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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://www.archive.org/details/someofmedicalpioOOmcco 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


Chloretone 

A  broadly  serviceable  hypnotic  and  sedative 


Chloretone  induces  natural  sleep. 

It  acts  as   a  sedative  to   the  cerebral,   gastric   and 
vomiting  centers. 

It  does  not  depress  the  heart. 

It  does  not  disturb  the  digestive  functions. 

It  produces  no  objectionable  after-effects. 

It  does  not  cause  habit-formation. 

INDICATIONS. 


Insomnia  of  pain. 

Insomnia  of  mental  strain  or  worry. 

Insomnia  of  nervous  diseases. 

Insomnia  of  old  age. 

Insomnia  of  tuberculosis. 

Alcoholism,  delerium  tremens,  etc. 

Acute  mania. 

Puerperal  mania. 

Periodic  mania. 


Senile  dementia. 

Agitated  melancholia. 

Motor  excitement  of  general  paresis. 

Spasmodic  affections,  as  asthma,  epi- 
lepsy, chorea,  pertussis,  tetanus,  etc. 

Nausea  and  vomiting  of  anesthesia. 

Seasickness. 

The  pains  of  pregnancy. 

Vomiting  of  pregnancy. 


Chloretone  has  been  pronounced  the  most  satisfactory  hypnotic 
and  sedative  available  to  the  medical  profession. 

CHLORETONE:    Ounce  vials. 

CHLORETONE  CAPSULES  :  3.grain.  bottles  of  100  and  500. 

CHLORETONE  CAPSULES:  5-grain,  bottles  of  100  and  500. 

Dose,  3  to  15  grains. 


Home  Offices  and  Laboratories, 
Detroit,  Michigan. 


Parke,  Davis  &  Co. 


50  Years  of  Pharmaceutical  Progress 


-J 


KEXTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOUEXAL. 


I 

I  ^Ki  if 


ESTABLISHED  1901 


8 

jj  ATO  ADVERTISEMENT  can  do 

•|  "'■^     justice  to  the  work  of  this  |{ 

II  Hospital.      Much  has  been  said  about  it  by  medical  au-  || 

II  tliorities  and  its  plau  of  treatment  for  habits  and  addictions  has  || 

M  been  incorporated  in  standard  medical  texts.      Much  also  bearing  II 

f !  on  every  phase  of  alcoholism  and  drug  addiction  has  been  issued  f  z 

II  by  the  Hospital  itself.  It 

II  The  findings  of  leading  medical  men  who   know  the  Hospitafs  || 

II  work  and  the  results  of  its  sixteen  years'  experience  are  available  11 

9  i 

II  The  Following  Publications  II 

II  II 

il  Reprint  from  the  Journal  of  the  American  If 

I  Medical  Association,  setting  forth  Every 

I  Detail  of  the  Treatment  carried  out  here. 

II  The  Alcoholic  Problem  in  its  Institutional,  ^^ 

II  Medical  and  Sciological  Aspects.  If 

II  Help  for  the  Hard  Drinker.  || 

II  Perils  of  the  Drug  Habit.  ii 

II  The  Injury  of  Tobacco.  11 

II  The  Drug  Taker  and  the  Physician.  II 

If  How  to  Eliminate  the  Alcoholic  as  an  Insane  Problem  zz 

Il  Federal  Responsibility  in  the  Solution  of  the  || 

II  Habit-Forming  Drug  Problem.  || 

II  The  Personal  Problem  confronting  the  Phy-  f  f 

II  sician  in  the  Treatment  of  Drug  and  Al-  f  1 

jJ  coholic  Addiction.  If 

II  Anv    or    all    of    tliese    will    be    sent    vou    if    interested.  || 

II  If 

II  CHARLES  B.  TOWNS  HOSPITAL,  NEW  YORK  II 

«...  g 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


HIGHLAND  SANITARIUM 


NASHVILLE 
TENNESSEE 


.  # 

^,, 

1  ^'^4 

■■  -_^ 

^^^^Sk^            .  -- 

FOR  THE  TREATMENT  OF 

Nervous  and  Mild  Mental  Disorders,  General  Invalidism 
and  the  Addictions 

Under  tlip  Supervision  of  Dr.  A.  E.  DOUGLAS,  former  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Central  Tennessee  State  Hospital,  assisted  b}-  a  Staff  of 
Fifteen  of  Nashville's  Most  Eminent  Physicians. 

Situated  in  the  suburbs  of  Nashville,  three  miles  from  heart  of 
city  on  Murfreesboro  Pite  in  midst  of  10  acres  of  beautiful  blue  grass 
woodland  and  ornamental  shrubbery. 

A  quiet,  homelike,  strictly  ethical,  splendidly  equipped  hospital  for 
patients  of  this  character,  operating"  under  state  license  and  in  charge 
of  a  successful  and  widely  known  physician  who  has  given  his  entire 
professional  life  to  the  study  of  ways  and  means  of  relieving  and  cur- 
ing these  unfortunates. 

Number    of    patients    limited,    assuring    jjcrsonal    attention    of    Su- 
perintendent.     Special  facilities   installed  at  an  enormous   cost  for   giv- 
ing hydrotherapy,  electrotherapj',   massage,   baths  and  rest  treatment. 
Address : 


HIGHLAND    SANIXARIUIVI 


Telephone  Main  1826 


{.  F.  D.  7,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


PETTEY  &  WALLACE 

SANITARIUM 


f 


958  S.  Fifth  Strec-8 
MEMPHIS     TENN 


v: 


FOR  THE  TREATMENT  OF 

Drug  Addictions,  Alcoholism, 

Mental  and  Nervous  Diseases 


A  quiet,  home-like,  private,  high-class  institution. 
Licensed.  Strictly  ethiceJ.  Complete  equipment. 
Best  Accommodations. 

Resident  physicians  and  trained  nurses. 

Drug  patients  treated  by  Dr.  Pettey's  original 
method. 

Detached  building  for  mental  patients. 


KENILWORTH  SANITARIUM 


KENII-.WORXH,   ILL,. 

ESTABLISHED  190S 


RESIDENT  MEDICAL  STAFF : 


(C.  &  N.  W.  R'y.  Six  Miles  North  of  Chicago.) 

Built  and  equipped  for  the  treatment  of  nervous 
and  mental  diseases.  Approved  diagnostic  and 
therapeutic  methods.  An  adequate  night  nursing- 
service  maintained.  Sound  proof  rooms  with 
forced  ventilation.  Elegant  appointments.  Bath 
rooms  en  suite,  steam  heating,  electric  lighting, 
electric  elevator. 

All  correspondence  should  be  addressed  to 
KENILWORTH  SANITARIUM,  Kenilworth,  Illinois 
Ella  Blackburn,  M.D.,  Assistant  Physician  ;   Sherman  Brown.  M.D..  Medical  Sup  . ; 
Sanger  Brown,  M.D.,  Chief  of  Staff. 

59  E.  Madison  Street,  CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 
Telephone:    Randolph  5794 — Consultation  by  appointment  only 


ed  to  question  reliability  of  our  advertii 


Whc 


this      JOUK^s'AL. 


KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  LOUISVILLE 

MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT 
Eightieth  Annual  Session  Begins  September  25,  1917 


ENTRANCE  REQUIREMENTS 

Applicants  for  admission  to  the  ]\redical  School  of  this  University  must  have  completed 
a  four  years'  course  in  an  accredited  High  School,  and  In  addition  one  year  of  collegi- 
ate work,  which  must  include  courses  in  Chemistry,  Physics,  Biology  and  a  Modern 
Language  (French  or  German). 

Beginning  with  September  1918  (Session  of  1918-1919)  applicants  for  admission  will 
be  required  to  have  had  two  years  of  college  work  in  addition  to  the  iour  years'  Higii 
School  course. 

F»RE-iyiEDICAI_  COURSE 

A  pre-raedical  course  is  given  in  the  College  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  the  University  for 
students  who  are  deficient  in  college  work. 

COIMBINED  B.  S.,  IVI.D.  DEGREES 

The  College  of  Arts  and  Sciences  and  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  offer 
the  combined  degTee  of  B.  S.,  M.  D.  to  students  after  two  years  of  study  in  the  College 
of  Arts  and  Sciences,  or,  to  those  who  enter  the  Arts  and  Science  Department,  having 
made  ten  units  in  the  prescribed  subjects  leading  *"o  the  baccalaureate  degTee  in  a  rec- 
ognized College  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  spending  the  second  year  in  study  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Louisville,  followed  by  four  years  in  the  Medical  School.  The  prescribed 
studies  in  the  combined  Academic  and  Medical  degree  courses  are  as  follows:  Math- 
ematics, I  and  II;  English,  I  and  II;  Chemistry,  I;  Biology,  II;  German,  I  or 
French,  I;  Physics,  I;  History,  II  and  Philosophy,  V. 

CLINICAL,   F'ACIL.ITIES 

The  clinical  work  of  the  Junior  and  Senior  years  is  done  in  the  new  million-dollar  City 
Hospital,  of  500  beds,  and  in  the  out-patient  department  of  the  Hospital,  with  a  walk- 
ing clinic  of  250  patients  a  day.  Individual  instruction  is  given  advanced  students  at 
the  bed-side.  Ward  classes  in  all  practical  departments.  Each  senior  student  attends 
obstetrical  cases  under  the  direction  of  competent  instructors.  The  hospital  was  con- 
structed as  a  teaching  hospital,  and  is  especially  equipped  and  adapted  for  this  purpose. 

LABORATORIES 

The  handsome  modern  college  building  at  the  corner  of  First  and  Chestnut  streets  is 
admirably  constructed  and  arranged  for  laboratories.  The  laboratories  and  small  lec- 
ture rooms  attached  are  equipped  with  every  facility  for  laboratory  instruction.  Lab- 
oratories for  advanced  instruction,  and  for  post-mcrtem  examinations  are  provided  in 
the  City  Hospital. 

CREDENTIALS 

It  is  important  that  prospective  students  for  either  pre-medical  or  medical  courses  be- 
gin correspondence  as  early  as  possible  with  the  Dean  of  the  Medical  School,  in  order 
that  a  full  record  of  literaiy  credits  may  be  on  file  before  date  of  matriculation. 

This  School  is  rated  in  Class  "A"  by  the  Council  of  Medical  Education  of  the  A.  M. 
A.,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Association  of  American  Medical  Colleges. 

INF^ORIMATION 

For  full  information  and  bulletin  of  the  University,  address — 

HENRY  ENOS  TULEY,  M.  D..  Dean 
101  ^Ve8t  Chestnut  Street  Louisville,  Ky. 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


INFANT  FEEDING 

In  extreme  emaciation,  which  is  a  characteristic  symptom  of 
conditions  commonly  known  as 

Malnutrition-Marasmus -Atrophy 

it  is  difficult  to  give  fat  in  sufficient  amounts  to  satisfy  the  nutritive 
needs;  therefore,  it  is  necessary  to  meet  this  emergency  by  substitut- 
ing some  other  energy-giving  food  element.  Carbohydrates  in  the 
form  of  maltose  and  dextrins  in  the  proportion  that  is  found  in 

MELLWS  FOOD 

are  especially  adapted  to  the  requirements,  lor  such  carbohydrates 
are  readily  assimilated  and  at  once  furnish  heat  and  energy  so 
greatly  needed  by  these  poorly  nourished  infants. 

The  method  of  preparing  the  diet  and  suggestions  for  meet- 
ing individual  conditions  sent  to  physicians  upon  request. 


MELLIN'S  FOOD  COMPANY, 


BOSTON,  MASS. 


Electric  Centrifuge  HlB 

An  unusually  low  price  for  a  practical  electric  centrifuge. 
Never  befoie  sold  for  less  than  $25.00,  and  we  are  able  to 
make  the  price  only  by  producing  large  quantities  in  the 
most  efficient  manner. 
Why  use  the  o  1  d 
style  hand  centrifuge 
when  for  a  little  more 
yon  can  secure  this 
up-to-date  and  effi- 
cient electric  ceutii' 
fuge  which  will  great- 
ly simplify  your  work? 
The  new  electric 
centrifuge  is  equipped 
with  a  Universal 
motor  (for  either  di- 
rect o  r  alternatiu; 
current),  mounted  o: 
heavy  cast  base  which 
can  be  fastened  tc 
shelf  or  table.  It  is 
equipped  with  rheo 
SI  at  in  base  to  control 
speed  and  comes  com- 
plete with  2  aluminum 
tube  holders,  plaii 
and  graduated  glasi 
tubes,  cord  and  sock- 
et In  actual  i 
\Mth  tubes  filled 
speed  of  1,800  R.P.M. 
IS  secured  on  direct 
current,  on  alternat- 
ing current  2,400 
R.P.M. 

9W42I5   —   Electri 

Centrifuge  with    Universal    Motor $12.50 

Haematokrit.  Complete  with  Tube $4.50  Extra 


Electric  Heating  Pad,  only  H-^ 

Materials  have  advanced  tre- 
mendously but  we  have  been 
able  to  produce 


this  high  class  pad 
in  one  size  only, 
8  X 12  inches,  in 
enormous  quanti- 
ties so  as  to  give 
onrcutsomers  this 
special  offer  for  a 
limited  time. 

The  pad  is  a 
standard  type, 
llexible,  covered 
with  eiderdown 
and  coming  com- 
plete with  silk 
cord  and  socket. 
This  is  a  two  heal 
pad,  offering  a 
range  in  tempera- 
ture that  will  meet 
any  condition.  It 
is  provided  witli 
two  safety  fuses 
which  positively 
prevent  overheat- 
ing. It  is  only  by 
manufaturing  a 
single  size  pad  in 
large  quantities 
that  we  have  been 
able  to  make  this 
special  price. 

9W4670-8xl2 
inch  Electric  Heal- 
ing Pad.  Special 
Price $4.50 


FRANK   S.  BETZ   COMPANY,  Hammond,  Ind. 


30  East   Randolph   Street 


ii  KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 

CALENDAR    OF    COUNTY  SOCIETY    IVIEETINGS 

UODNTy  SKCHtTAUy  RESIDENCE  DATE 

Adair R.  T.  Hindman Columbia Xovcmlier  7 

Allen II.  M.  Meredith Scottsville November  24 

Anderson .T.  W.  Gilbert Lawrenceburg November  3 

Ballard Hob  C.  Overby La  Center December  11 

Barren J.  M.  Taylor Glasgow November  21 

Bath H.  J.  Daily OwingsviUe November  12 

Bell O.  P.  Nuckols Pineville November   9 

Boone S    B.  Nunnelly Bullittsville November  2 J. 

Bourbon Jas.  A.  Orr Pans November  15 

Boyd J.  M.  Pichard Ashland November  5,   20 

Boyle F.   H.  Montgomery Danville November  13 

Breathitt O.  H.   Swango Jackson November    1 

Breckinridge J.  E.  Kincheloe Hardinsburg December  13 

Bullitt R.  L.  Hackworth Brooks November  12 

Butler J.  H.  Austin Morgantown November   7 

Caldwell W.  Ij.  Cash Princeton November  l.T 

Calloway W.  G.  Graves Murray November  14 

Campbell  Kenton P.  A.  Stine Newport November  15 

Carlisle W.  Z.  Jackson Arlington Noi'ember   6 

Carroll F.M.Gaines CarroUton November  13 

Carter G.  B.   O'Roark Grayson November  13 

Casey Wm.  J.  Sweeney Liberty November  22 

Christian J.  W.  Harned Hopkinsville November  20 

Clark W.  Carl  Grant' Winchester November  16 

Clay November  2 1 

Clinton S.  P.  Stephenson Albany.  .    .  ; November  1*7 

Crittenden C.  G.  Moreland Marion November  12 

Cumberland W.  F.  Owsley Burkesville November   7 

Daviess J.  J.  Rodman Owensboro December  IS 

Estill G.  A.  Embry Irvine November  14 

Fayette L.  C.  Redmon Lexington November  13 

Fleming .T.  B.  O'Bannon Plemingsburg  R.  F.  D.  No.  4. November  21 

Floyd M    V.  Wicker    .. Garrett November  9 

Franklin U.  V.  Williams Frankfort November   6 

Pulton Seldon  Cohn Fulton November  1-J 

Gallatin J.  M.   Stallard Sparta November  15 

Garrard J.  B.  Kinnaird Lancaster .  .  Novemljer  15 

Grant J.  G.  Renaker Dry  Ridge '.  .November  2] 

Graves H.  H.  Hunt Mayfield November    7 

Grayson C.  L.  Sherman Millwood November  29 

Gri'di 0.   IT.   Shively Greenburg November    1 

Greenup C.  E.  Vidt.. Russell Novembf r  1 

Hardin W.  F.  Alvey Elizabethtown November   8 

Harlan Chas.  V.  Stark .    . .    .Evarts November  24 

Harrison W.  B.  Moore Oynthiana.  .    . November   5 

Hart C.  H.  Moore Oanmer November  6 

Henderson Wm.  B.  Negley Henderson November  12,  2'; 

Henry W.  B.  Oldham Newcastle November  26 

Hickman Charles  Hunt Clinton November   1 

Hopkins A.  O.  Sisk Earlington November    1 

Jackson G.  C.  Goodman Welchbur^ November   7 

JeiTerson E.  Owsley  Grant Louisville,  .     Every    Monday    Evening 

Jessamine J.  A.  VanArsdall NicholasvilTe November  22 

Johnson J.P.Wells Paintsville November  24 

Knott November  24 

Knox C.  L.  Heath Lindsay November  20 

Larue W.E.Rodman HodgenviHe -. December  20 

Laurel Oscar  D.  Brock London November  2  I 

Lawrence L.S.Hayes Charley November  19 

Lee A.  B.  Hoskins Beattyville November  10 

Leslie November  28 

Letcher Bert  C.  Bach Whitesburg November  23 

Lewis II.   M.   Bertram Vanceburg November  19 

Lincoln D.  B.  Southard Stanford November  16 

Livingston Tidward  Davenaort Hampton. November  21 

Logan Walter  Byrne,  -fr Russellville November  5 

Lyon L.  P.  MoUoy Kuttawa November  20 

McCracVen W.  H.  Parsons Paducah November  14,  28 

McCreary Robert  Sievers Pine  Knot November  13 

McLean W.  W.  Spicer Calhoun November   8 

Madison Murison    Dunn ■ Richmond November  8 

Magoffin M.  M.  Price Salyersville Novembers 

Marion C  B.  Kobert Lebanon December  IS 

Marshall L.  L.  Washburn Benton November  21 

Mason G.  L.  Howard Maysville  Every    Wednesday     Evening 

Meade 1-J.  C.  Harlman Brandenburg,  ,    ,  ", November  22 

Menifee J    M.  Kosh Frenchburg 

Mercer C.   B.   VanArsdall Harrodsburg November  13 

Metcalfe H.  R.  VanZant Edmonton December   1 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


CODNTT  SKCRETARV  BE8IDBN0E  DATB 

Monroe R.  F.  Duncan Tompkinsvillp .November  15 

Montgomery J.  P.  Jones Mount  Sterling November  13 

Morgan W,  H.  Wheeler West  Liberty November  12 

Muhlenberg Clarerce  Woodburn Central  City November  2S 

Nelson .Hugh  D.  Rodman Bardstown December  19 

Nicholas B.F.Reynolds Carlisle November  If) 

Ohio Oscar  Allen Cromwell November   7 

Oldham It.  B.  Cassady La  Grange December   6 

Owen J,   H.   Chrisman Owenton .November   1 

Owsley C.    M.    Anderson Booneviile November   7 

Pendleton L.   T.   Eckler Falmouth,. November  Id 

Perry M.  E.  Combs Hazara November  12 

Pike   .  .    .  . W.  J.  Walters Pikevilln November  1 

Powell 1    W.Johnson Stanton         November   5 

Pulaski Carl  Norfleet Somerset November  S 

Robertson Alton  U.  Wells Mount  Olivet .November  19 

Rockcastle Lee  Chestnut Mount  Vernon December  13 

Rowan G.  C.  Nickell Morehead November  27 

Russell J.  B.  Scholl Jabez November  12 

Scott 11.   V.   Johnson Georgetown November   1 

Shelby W.E.Allen Shelbyville November  Ij 

Simpson N.C.Witt Franklin Novembers 

Spencer E    C.  Wood Wakefiela  .  .  November  19 

Taylor J.  L.  .Atkinson Campbellsville November   8 

Todd L.   P.  Trabue Elkton November   7 

Trimlilo F.W.Hancock Bedford November   "i 

Trigg J.  L.  Hopson Cadiz November  28 

Union S.  L.  Henry Morganfield November   7 

Warren W.P.Drake Bowling  Green November  14 

Washington J.  H.   Hopper Springfield.   R.  P.  D.  No.  3 November  21 

Wavne J.  1.   :^-nng. Monticello November 

Webster RoyOrsDurn "'  ^^ -i.—  = 

Whitley A.   A.   Richardson 


.Wm.  T.  CoMptte 


.  Sebree November  30 

.  Williamsburg November   1 

November  5 

.    .  .  Versailles November   1 


CURRAN  POPE 


A.  THRUSTON  POPE 


AMOniiRN  up-to-date  private  infirmary  equipped  with  steam  heat,  electric  light,  electric 
fans,  modern  plumbing  and  new  furnishings.  Solicits  all  chronic  cases,  functional  and 
organic  nervous  diseases,  diseases  of  the  stomach  and  intestines,  rheumatism,  gout  and 
uric  acid  troubles,  drug  habits  and  non-surgical  diseases  of  men  and  women.  No  insanity  or 
infectious  cases  treated.     Bed-ridden  cases  not  received  without  previous  arrangement. 

Hydrolheratiy.  Mechanical  Massage,  Static,  Galvanic,  Faradic,  High  Frequency,  Arc  LItht  and  X-Ray 
Treatments  given  by  comfietenl  Physicians  and  Nurses  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  Medical 
Superintendent.  Special  laboratory  facilities  for  diagnosis  by  urine,  blood,  sputum,  gastric  juice  and 
X-Ray.     Recreation  hall  with  pool  and  billiards  for  free  use  of  patients. 

Rates  $i8  per  week,' including  treatment,  board,  medical  attention  and  general  nursing.  Send  for  | 
large  illustrated  catalog.  The  Sanatorium  is  supplied  daily ,  from  the  Pope  Farm,  with  vegetables, 
poultry  and  eggs;  also  milk,  cream,  butter  and  buttermilk  from  its  herd  of  registered  Jerseys. 


THE  POPE  SANATORIUM 


115  West  Chestnut  Street 
LOUISVILLE,    KENTUCK' 


KfjyrUCKY    MEDICAL    JOVRXAL. 


WHY  YOU  SHOULD  USE  CHLORAZENE 

The  United  States  Naval  Medical  Bulletin  of  July,  1917,  states  that  after  a  significant  series 
<iE  analyses  of  samples  of  chlorinated  lime  from  which  it  was  proposed  to  make  up  Dakin's  So- 
lution, -which  solution  gave  negative  results  because  of  unavoidable  errors  in  calculation  and 
nuiltiplication,  it  was  decided  to  issue  to  the  service  CHLORAZENE,  Dakin's  water  soluble  syn- 
thetic antiseptic  (j)ara-toluene-sodium-sulphochloramide;.  Chlorazene  Cream  was  also  highly 
spoken  of. 

CHLORAZENE  (known  as  Chloramine-T  in  England)  was  developed  by  Dr.  H.  D.  Dakin  of 
I  lie  Hcrtei-  Laboratorj',  New  York,  subsequent  to  hie  work  with  the  hj'poehlorites,  is  more  stable 
than  the  b^iioehlorites  and  far  more  convenient,    Ijeing  available  both  in  tablets  and  powder. 

The  United  States  Army  has  also  placed  orders  for  this  powerful  antiseptic  and  its  use  has 
besome  quite  general  and  decidedly  successful  in  ci^il  practice. 

Every  physician  and  surgeon  in  America  should  know  about  CHLORAZENE,  and  its  allied  pro- 
ducts. Send  for  literature  now.  You  should  also  know  about  DICHLORAMINE-T,  Dakins  new  oil 

soluble  'antiseptic  and  its  use  as  a  prophylactic  nasal 
spray,  ar.  well  as  HALAZONE  the  new  Dakin-Dun- 
ham  water  sterilization  tablet  and  PARRESINE, 
the  non-secret  wax  dressing  for  burns  which  has 
also  been  ordered  by  the  United  States  Navy,  All 
of  these  products  have  been  accepted  by  the  Coun- 
cil on  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry  of  the  American 
Medical  Association. 


Your  druggist  will  stock  these  products  for  your 
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Conveniently  taken  in  Tablets,  wliich  readily  dissolve. 

.Supplied  in  5  gv.  tablets,  bottles  of  25  and  100,  and  in  powder  in  ounces. 

Samples  and  Literature  supplied  by  THE  BAYER  COMPANY,  Inc. 

117  Hudson  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


Kentucky  Medical  Journal 

Being  the  Journal  of  the  Kentucky  State  Medical  Association 


F^ublisHed  Under  the  Auspices   of   tHe   Council 


Vol.  XV. 


Bowling  Green,  Kt.,  November  1,  1917 


No.  11 


DR.  HERMAN  SPITZ 


Bacteriological 

and  Pathological 

Laboratories. 


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THE  BATTLE  CREEK  SANITARIUM 

Box  177,  Battle  Creek,  Michigan 


DOCTOR  EPHRAIM  McDOWELL 
1771  —  1830 


Some  of  the  Medical  Pioneers  ofKentucki^ 


EDITED  BY 

J.   N.   McCORMACK,   M.D.,  L.L.D. 

Illustrated  With  Portraits 


Jk 


"  Bg  the  historical  method  alone  can  manii  problems  in  medicine  be 
approached  profitably.  For  example,  the  student  who  dates  his 
knowledge  of  tuberculosis  from  Koch  map  have  a  verv  correct,  but 
he  has  a  verg  incomplete,  appreciation  of  the  subject." ^Osue^. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 


KENTUCKY  STATE  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION 

BOWLING  GREEN,  KENTUCKY 


PRINTED  BY 

The  TrMES-JouBNAL  Publishing  Company 

BOWLING   GREEN,   KY. 


So 

Ihc  ilrmbrrs  of  the  iMrbfral  }3rnfrssfon  Dt  Krnturku 

uiho, 

hDiururr  humblu,  tf  uiorthtly, 

arc  attrmpttng 

to  folloiu  in  tltp  footsteps  of  thrsr  pionrprs, 

this  littlr  uolumr 

ts  affrctioitatrlo  trrbicatrtr  bo  thrir  frirnb, 

(the  tEbttot. 


General  Introduction 


^JpHE  remarkable  achievements  of  the  pioneer  medical  men  of  Kentucky  read 
Itl  so  like  a  romance,  and  have  been  handed  down  as  such  an  abiding  and 
^*^  fruitful  source  of  inspiration  to  their  students  and  successors  that,  ever 
since  the  Avriter  entered  the  professioii,  nearly  half  a  century  ago,  it  has  been  the 
constant  wish  and  hope  of  all  of  us,  expressed  by  frequent  resolutions  of  the 
State  Society  and  similar  organizations,  that  to  some  especially  qualified  mem- 
ber of  the  faculty  be  delegated  the  important  and  pleasant  duty  of  writing  "The 
History  of  Medicine  in  Kentucky."  Dr.  David  W.  Yandell,  doubly  fitted  for  the 
task  on  account  of  his  recognized  ability  as  a  \\Titer,  and  by  the  fortuitous  circum- 
stance that  he  and  his  honored  father  represented  in  their  own  persons  direct 
connecting  links  between  the  pioneers  and  the  older  members  of  the  present  day 
profession,  often  half  promised  to  undertake  the  work,  but  death  called  him  be- 
fore it  was  begun.  Then  for  years,  Dr.  Lems  S.  McMurtry,  because  of  his  facile 
and  puissant  pen.  his  familiarity  with  the  literature  of  the  subject,  and  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  personnel  of  nearly  all  except  the  first  generation  of  our  forbears,  be- 
came the  unanimous  choice  of  his  colleagues  for  this  service,  but  the  exactions  of 
a  large  surgical  practice  and  his  teaching  work  and  other  duties  made  such  de- 
Tuands  upon  his  time  as  to  make  him  unwilling  to  accept  the  assignment. 

The  failure  of  these  efforts,  and  the  knowledge  that  many  of  tlie  only  too  scant 
case  reports  and  other  writings  of  this  period  of  our  medical  history,  some  more 
or  less  criide  and  fragmentary,  but  often  of  great  value,  were  published  in  jour- 
nals long  out  of  print,  some  gone  hopelessly  and.  many  of  them  difficult  to  trace 
or  obtain,  and  that  much  valuable  unwritten  information  would  be  forever  lost 
with  the  passing  away  of  men  already  of  advanced  age,  induced  the  writer  to  un- 
dertake, not  the  preparation  of  a  medical  history,  but,  i-ecogiiizing  that  history, 
after  all,  is  little  more  than  a  succession  and  tactful  combination  of  selected 
luographies,  the  far  more  modest  task  of  collecting  and  preserving  in  a  somewhat 
permanent  form  such  still  available  data  of  that  time  as  nught  in  abler  and  more 
fitting  hands,  be  useful  as  the  foundation  of  such  a  history  of  that  day  as  would 
be  worthy  of  the  actors  whose  momentous  deeds  it  recorded. 

On  account  of  the  very  nature  of  the  work,  as  well  as  of  the  unavoidable  delay 
in  taiing  it  up,  while  possibly  other  scarcely  less  important  facts  might  have  been 
accessible,  which  'would  have  included  other  worthy  men  in  its  scope,  and  also  to 
the  limits  of  the  space  which  can  be  devoted  to  even  such  a  subject  as  this  in  an 
i.«ue  of  the  Journal,  the,  compilation  is  recognized  as  so  incomplete  as  compared 
\v-ith  what  it  should  be,  that  the  writer  earnestly  expresses  the  hope  that  some  one 
of  his  more  gifted  colleagues  may  be  stimulated  not  only  to  add  biographies  of 


others  of  this  early  period  rightfully  entitled  to  honored  places  thereij\,  but  tha! 
the  scope  of  it  may  be  so  extended  as  to  include  those  of  the  later  generations  who 
actively  and  worthily  spent  and  ended  their  days  in  Kentucky,  often  under-esti- 
mated it  is  feared,  because  of  our  intimate  and  short  range  association  with  them  • 
and  also  scores  of  native  bom  or  adopted  sons  of  the  Couunonwealth  who  were 
educated  or  first  won  their  spurs  here,  and  then  added  luster  and  renown  to  our 
jtrofession  and  to  the  State  in  distant  fields  of  labor.  Many  familiar  and  honored 
names  and  faces  in  both  of  these  classes,  who  well  earned  such  a  distinction,  and 
who  would  reflect  honor  upon  the  profession  by  being  included  in  such  a  future 
volume,  will  readily  occur  to  all  of  the  older  members. 

This  is  not  the  time  or  place,  even  if  one  were  competent  for  the  task,  to  weigh 
tlie  iudi\'idual  merits  of  these  pioneers,  much  less  the  comparative  merits  of  the 
constructive  life-work  of  master  minds  like  ileDowell,  Dudley  and  Bradford  in 
surgei-y  and  Drake,  the  senior  Yandell  and  others  in  medicine  and  public  affairs, 
in  contrast  with  those  of  almost  equal  requtations  who  were  followers  rather  than 
leaders,  and  some  of  whose  reputations  are  based  mainly  upon  one  or  more  bril- 
liant and  successful  operation  or  exploit,  but  in  considering  their  accomplish- 
luents  singly  or  as  a  whole  a  proper  pei-spective  upon  the  part  of  the  reader  is  ot 
the  utmost  importance. 

The  environments  by  which  they  were  surrounded,  including  the  lack 
of  hospitals,  trained  nurses,  anesthetics,  modern  surgical  appliances,  loiowl- 
odge  of  asepsis  and  the  other  inherent  and  almost  inconceivable  difficulties  un- 
der which  their  work  was  done,  explains  the  ijicredulity  of  their  contemporaries, 
and  make  their  achievements  seem  almost  miraculous.  For  it  must  be  remember- 
ed that  the  subjects  of  all  of  the  biographies,  and  most  of  the  authors  of  these  bi- 
ographies and  other  papers,  were  not  only  the  more  or  less  self-educated  pro- 
ciuets  of  country  villages  or  districts,  but  were  country  practitionei-s  whe3i  they 
performed  the  operations  or  made  the  scientific  discoveries  or  ad^'aIlces  which 
gave  their  names  enduring  places  in  medical  history  and  in  the  annals  of  the 
State  and  Nation:  and  the  most  illustrious  of  them  remained  in  the  localities 
«here  they  had  won  renown  to  the  end  of  their  da.ys,  and  now  lie  in  honored 
graves  in  the  little  communities  which  were  still  more  highly  honored  by  their 
lives  and  achievements. 

In  order  to  emphasize  these  surroundings  and  difficulties,  and  the  claims  of 
these  forbears  of  ours  to  eternal  renown,  it  shoidd  be  borne  in  mind  that 
Bardstown,  although  situated  in  a  rich  agricultural  section,  the  seat  of 
the  Diocese  or  See  of  the  Catholic  chnrcli  for  all  the  countiy  west  of  the 
Alloghanies,  \\-ith  the  most  illustrious  courts  and  bar  in  the  west,  and  recognized 
as  a  centre  of  learning  and  culture,  had  but  820  inhabitants  when  Brashear  per- 
formed the  first  successful  hip-joint  amputation  ever  done  in  the  wox-ld  in  1806. 
Danville,  the  first  Capitol  of  Kentucky,  with  the  home  of  ^IcDowell  almost  under 
the  shadow  of  the  State  Buildings  when  he  was  doing  his  early  surgery,  had  only 
4-52  inhabitants  when  he  operated  upon  ^Irs.  Crawford  in  1809,  and  but  804  at 


the  time  of  his  death.  JMayslick,  in  IMason  Conntj^,  where  Drake  was  reared  and 
lirst  practiced,  had  1;')0  inhabitants  then  and  but  309  now,  and  Cincinnati,  where 
he  next  located,  had  less  population  and  eommereial  importance  than  Lexington, 
to  which  place  his  restless  spirit  soon  took  him.  Augusta  had  less  than  600  in- 
habitants when  Bradford  began  his  surgical  career,  and  only  960  at  the  time  of 
liis  death.  Lexington,  a  remarkable  town  in  a  wonderful  country,  then  as  now, 
had  but  1795  inhabitants  when  the  Medical  School  of  Transylvania  University, 
liie  second  in  the  United  States  and  the  tirst  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  was  estab- 
lished there  in  1799,  and  only  6,997  when  Dudley  was  in  the  zenith  of  his  surgical 
work.  Louisville,  now  a  great  nietropolis,  and  for  more  than  a  generation  one 
of  the  recognized  centres  of  medical  edi.ication  of  this  country,  had  but  359  in- 
habitants when  this  Medical  School  was  opened  at  Lexington  in  1779,  less  than 
19,000  when  it  was  moved  from  Lexington  to  Louisville  in  1837-8,  and  but  43,194 
in  1850. 

For  the  convenience  of  readers,  as  well  as  because  it  seemed  a  more  natural  ar- 
rangement, chronological  order  and  logical  sequence  were  ignored,  and  all  of  the 
sketches  and  papers  in  the  volume  placed  under  the  following  heads: 

1.  The  McDowell  Clroup. 

2.  The  Transylvania  University  Group. 

3.  The  University  of  Louisville  Group. 

4.  The  General  Kentuckj'  Group. 

This  involved  recognized  inconsistencies  and  defects,  to  the  extent  even  of  plac- 
ing a  few  writers  in  more  than  one  group,  but  equal  or  greater  difficulties  seemed 
lUD avoidable  under  any  other  plan  which  suggested  itself. 

Grateful  acknowledgements  are  here  made  to  Dr.  McMurtry  for  invaluable 
advice  and  assistance  in  making  this  compilation  ;  to  the  Pilson  Club  for  the  use 
of  both  subject  matter  and  its  plates  in  preparing  the  Transylvania  Group,  and 
to  all  others  who  have  aided  in  the  work. 

Confident  of  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  facts  contained  in  it,  in  spite  of  the  de- 
fects mentioned,  and  of  the  cordial  reception  it  Avill  meet  at  the  hands  of  the  pro- 
fession, arrangements  have  been  made  to  put  this  volume  in  handsome  binding, 
for  presentation  to  such  public  libraries  as  the  Association  may  select,  and  for  the 
use  of  all  members  Avho  may  desire  to  incur  the  small  personal  expense  necessary 
to  enable  them  to  possess  and  transmit  it  in  this  permanent  form  as  a  heritage. 
It  is  also  expected  that  the  Association  at  its  next  meeting  will  create  a  committee 
to  present  copies  of  this  bound  volume,  the  original  McDowell  letter,  and  all  of  the 
pictures  contained  in  this  publication,  properly  grouped  and  handsomely  framed, 
to  the  Kentuckj^  State  Historical  Society,  at  Frankfort,  in  the  hope  that  they  may 
form  the  nucleus  of  an  honored  and  honoring  collection  of  "The  Medical  Men  of 
Kentuckj'-,  •' '  in  the  halls  of  the  Capitol,  which  it  is  hoped  will  grow  by  decades  or 
periods  through  all  the  ages.  J.  N.  McCormack. 


Foreword  To  The  McDowell  Group 


^jrO  the  late  Professor  Sanmel  D.  Gross,  M.  D.,LL.  D.,  D.  C.  L.  Oxon,  is  due 
il  the  credit  of  reselling  from  obscurity  the  name  and  fame  of  Dr.  Ephraim 
^■^  ^IcDowell,  and  of  establishing  permanently  his  place  in  historj'  as  the  fii'St 
o\ariotomist  and  the  founder  of  abdominal  surgery.  Professor  Gross  was  for  fi 
number  of  years  Professor  of  Surgei->'  in  the  Univesity  of  Louisville,  going  later 
to  Philadelphia  where  he  completed  his  long  and  brilliant  career  as  Professor  of 
Surgery  in  Jefferson  ^Medical  College.  While  residing  in  Louisville  Professor 
Gross  met  many  of  the  contemporaries  of  Dr.  McDowell,  and  thereby  learned 
much  of  the  personality  and  professional  work  of  that  pioneer  of  American  siu'g- 
ei'.y.  Professor  Gross  resurrected  Dr.  ^FcDoweH's  report  of  his  cases  of  ovari- 
otomy from  the  files  of  "The  Eclectic  Repertory  and  Analytical  Review"  pub- 
lished in  Pliiladelphia,  and  in  his  Report  on  Kentucky  Surgerj^  to  the  Kentucky 
State  iledical  Society  in  1852  set  forth  in  a  thorough  and  masterful  paper  Mc- 
Dowell's priority  as  the  first  surgeon  in  the  world  to  successfully  invade  the 
I'eritoneum  and  remove  an  ovarian  tumor.  This  paper  was  subsecpiently  incor- 
porated in  Professor  Gross'  American  Medical  Biography,  published  by  Lindsay 
and  Blakiston  of  Philadelphia  in  1861. 

In  1873  the  late  Dr.  John  D.  Jackson,  of  Danville,  Ky.,  wrote  and  published 
a  "Biographical  Sketch  of  Ephraim  ^McDowell,"  which  added  materially  to  ex- 
isting knowledge  of  ilcDowell's  character  and  surgical  achievements.  -In  this 
admirable  sketch  Dr.  Jackson  portrayed  the  claims  of  jMcDowell  to  the  gratitude 
of  the  'Women  of  the  world  and  also  the  honor  due  to  his  memoiy  from  the  medical 
profession.  Dr.  Jackson  urged  that  Dr.  IMcDowell's  remains  should  be  removed 
L'rom  the  neglected  family  burying-ground  at  "Traveler's  Rest,"  the  former 
country  home  of  GoA^ernor  Shelby,  and  suggested  that  the  women  of  the  world 
who  have  been  rescued  from  lingering  death  by  the  operation  he  devised  should 
erect  a  monument  over  his  grave.  Dr.  Jackson  was  so  deeply  imbued  with  this 
idea  that  his  enthusiastic  appeal  in  the  press,  in  the  medical  societies  and  m  pri- 
v^ate  correspondence  won  the  approving  interest  of  Professor  Gross,  Dr.  J.  JIarion 
Sims  and  other  prominent  American  surgeons. 

In  1875  Dr.  Jackson  presented  his  appeal  to  honor  McDowell's  memory  to  the 
American  Medical  Association,  and  a  Committee,  of  which  Dr.  J.  ilariou  Sims 
was  Chairman,  reported  a  recommendation  that  a  fund  to  be  known  as  the  ^lo- 
Dowell  Memorial  Prize  Essay  Fund   be   established    to   perpetuate  McDowell's 


memory,  and  that  "tO'  the  profession  of  the  State  of  Kentucky  be  left  the  privi- 
lege of  suitably  marking  his  resting  place.'"  Under  the  conditions  of  the  or- 
ganization of  the  American  Medical  Association  at  that  time  such  disposition  of 
the  subject  was  equivalent  to  its  burial,  although  Dr.  Sims  did  not  so  intend.  At 
that  time  all  executive  business  was  transacted  in  the  general  session,  and  the 
'personnel  of  the  convention  changed  from  year  to  year  with  the  place  of  meeting. 
Tn  December  of  1875  Dr.  Jackson  died,  and  his  pupil  and  devoted  friend,  Dr. 
Lewis  S.  I\IcMurtry,  then  of  Danville,  now  of  Louisville,  a  recent  graduate  in 
medicine,  assumed  the  continuance  of  Dr.  Jackson's  cherished  plan  to  place  a 
suitable  local  memorial  to  McDowell.  Dr.  Mcilui-ti-y  brought  the  subject  before 
tlie  Kentucky  State  IMedical  Society,  at  Hopkinsville,  in  the  following  year,  and  a 
Committee,  with  Dr.  McMurtry  as  Chairman,  Avas  appointed  to  erect  a  monument 
to  Dr.  McDowell  in  Danville.  Dr.  MeJ\Iurtry  undertook  this  difficult  task  with  a 
very  limited  acquaintance  with  the  medical  profession  of  the  State,  and  carried 
it  to  a  successful  conclusion  despite  many  obstacles  and  much  discouragement. 
He  raised  the  money  from  subscriptions  of  members  of  the  profession  to  provide 
the  granite  shaft  which  now  marks  McDowell's  grave  in  McDowell  Square  in 
Danville.  In  addition  he  secured  for  this  purpose  the  beautiful  square  near  the 
center  of  Danville,  and  removed  thereto  the  remains  of  Dr.  McDowell  and  his 
wife.  In  response  to  his  appeal  the  citizens  of  Danville  contributed  a  fund  to 
grade,  enclose  and  beautify  the  square.  Professor  Gross,  Dr.  E.  R.  Peaslee,  and 
other  distinguished  American  surgeons  encouraged  Dr.  McMurtry 's  efforts  by 
sending  contributions  to  the  McDowell  Memorial  Fund. 

This  was  Dr.  McMurtry 's  first  important  public  service  rendered  in  liehalf  of 
llie  medical  profession  of  his  native  State,  and  won  for  him  the  gratitude  and 
esteem  with  which  the  profession  has  since  honored  him. 

In  1879  the  Kentuck;\^  State  Medical  Society  convened  in  Danville,  and  this  was. 
the  most  brilliant  occasion  in  its  history.  Professor  Gross  came  to  personally 
dedicate  the  McDowell  monument,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse  of 
Kentucky  physiciajis,  with  many  distinguished  surgeons  from  other  states,  among 
them  Dr.  Lewis  A.  Sayre,  President  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and 
Dr.  Gilman  Kimball,  of  IjowcII,  ]\Iass..  a  famous  ovariotomist  of  that  day,  many 
prominent  laymen,  including  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth,  delivered  the 
eloquent  address  which  will  be  found  with  the  other  proceedings  of  that  occasion 
in  this  mimber  of  the  Journal. 

Thus  was  fixed  in  history  for  all  time  the  fame  of  Kentucky's  greatest  pioneer 
surgeon.  J.  N.  McCormack. 


Ephraim  ]\IcDowell. 
,3y  permission  of  the  American  Gynecological  Society.) 

1771-1830 
From  a  painting,  supposed  to  have  been  made  about  time  his  first  ovariotomy  was  performed. 


I.  THE  McDowell  group 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  DR.  EPIi- 

RAiM  McDowell.* 

By  John  D.  Jackson,  iM.  D.,  Danville. 

Dr.  Ephraini  ilcDowell  'was  born  in  Ropi^- 
bridge  county,  Va.,  on  the  llth  day  of  Mo- 
vemlier,  1771.  His  ancestors  belonged  to  the 
clan  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  in  Scotland,  but, 
iiaving  embraced  the  covenant,  were  so  perst 
cutecl  during  the  reign  of  Charles  L,  that  they 
TOOK  reruge  in  the  counties  of  Antrim  ana 
liOndondery,  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  In 
1737  they  removed  to  the  Valley  of  Virginia, 
and  settled  upon  an  immense  tract  of  land  in 
Rockbridge  county,  granted  by  James  II.  to 
Benjamin  Borden,  who.  in  partnership  with 
the  McDowells,  furnished  the  emigrants  re 
.'quired  to  make  the  grant  effective. 

His  father,  Samuel  McDowell,  (his  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Sarah  MeClung,)  was  for 
many  years  engaged  in  political  life  as  a  mem- 
ber  of  the  Legislature  of  Virginia,  but  in  1782 
he  was  appointed  by  the  Virginia  Assembly  a 
Ijand  Commissioner  for  Kentucky,  then  a  coun- 
ty or  appanage  of  Virginia,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  removed  with  his  family  to  Danville, 
Ky.,  where  he  received  the  appointment  of 
Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  Kentucky, 
which  held  its  first  sitting,  and  all  those  of  its 
early  years,  in  the  town  of  Danville. 

^''oung  Ephraim  JMcDowell  received  his 
early  education  at  the  classical  seminary  of 
Messrs.  Worley  and  James,  :who  taught  at 
(xeorgetown,  and  afterwards  at  Bardstown. 
He  then  went  to  Virginia,  and  entered  the  of- 
fice of  Dr.  Humphi'eys,  of  Staunton,  as  a 
medical  student,  where  he  remained  for  tiwo 
or  three  years.  Of  Dr.  Humphreys  we  know 
but  little,  save  the  fact  that  he  was  a  gradu- 
ate of  the  University  of  Edinl;)urgh,  and  that 
in  his  day  he  enjoyed  a  considerable  local 
reputation,  and  an  extensive  ijraetice  in 
Staunton  and  its  vicinity.  That  he  was  a 
good  instructor,  also,  is  highly  probable;  at 
least  we  know  the  fact  that  another  of  his  pu- 
pils, Dr.  Samuel  Brown,  one  of  the  founders, 
and  one  of  the  first  corps  of  lecturers  of  the 
Medical   Department    of    Transylvania   Uni- 

*Eeprintea  from  the  Kichmond  and  Louisville  Medical 
Journal,  1873. 


\ersity  at  Lexington,  arose  to  high  distinc- 
tioji. 

In  1793-4  McDowell  attended  lectures  at 
the  University  of  Edinburgh  contemporaneous- 
ly with  his  -countrymen.  Dr.  Samuel  Brown, 
above  alludedi.  to,  and  Drs.  Hosack  and  Da- 
•iiclge,  of  New  York,  and  Brockenborough,  of 
Virginia,  all  of  whom  subsequently  gained 
eminence  in  the  profession.  AVhile  in  attend- 
ance on  the  course  at  the  University  he  also 
took  a  private  course  under  John  Bell,  who 
at  that  time  did  not  belong  to  the  Faculty, 
ajid  it  seems  that  the  brilliant  predilections 
01  this  most  able  and  eloquent  of  the  Scotch 
surgeons  of  his  day  impressed  him  very  pro- 
foundly. That  portion  of  his  course  in  which 
he  lectured  upon  the  diseases  of  the  ovaries, 
dwelling  upon  the  hopeless  death  to  which 
their  victims  were  inevitably  fated,  and  mere- 
ly suggesting  the  possibility  of  success  follow- 
ing so  shockingly  severe  an  operation  as  any 
attempt  at  their  extraction  would  prove,  was 
never  forgotten  hy  his  auditor,  for  undoubted- 
ly it  'WHS  the  principles  and  suggestions  at 
this  time  enunciated  by  the  master  which,  six- 
teen years  after,  determined  the  pupil  to  at- 
tempt his  first  ovariotomy.  He  did  not  re- 
main long  in  Edinburgh  after  finishing  his 
<,'0urse,  but  i-eturned  to  Danville  at  the  ex- 
piration of  two  years,  preceding  his  return 
liome  by  au  extended  tour  afoot  through  Scot- 
land, in  company  with  two  of  his  American 
compatriots,  Drs.  Brown  and  Speed.  As  far 
as  we  know,  the  degree  of  JM.  D.  was  not 
actually  conferred  upon  him  until  1823,  when, 
entirely  unsolicited  on  his  part,  the  Univers- 
ity of  Jlarylancl  honored  itself  by  conferring 
upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  M.  D.  The 
I\ledical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  at  the  time 
the  oldest  and  most  distinguished  of  the  kind 
in  this  country,  had  sent  him  its  diploma  in 
1807. 

Upon  his  returii  to  Danville  in  1795,  Dr. 
JlcDowell  at  once  entered  upon  the  practice 
of  his  profession  and,  commencing  as  he  did, 
with  the  eclat  of  an  attendance  upon  the  then 
mo.st  famous  medical  school  of  the  world — 
for  i^Jdinburgh  at  that  time  held  the  position 
since  occupied  by  Paris,  and  now  held  by 
A'ienna,  as  the  centre  of  medical  science — he 
soon  assumed   the   first  professional  position 


]2 


KEXTVCKY     MEDICAL     JOURXAL. 


in  his  looalily,  and  speeilily  advauciug  the 
L-xteut  of  his  reputation  within  a  very  few 
\ears,  l)ecaiiie  known  throughout  all  the 
Western  and  Southern  States  as  the  first 
surgeon  west  of  Philadelphia.  For  a  quarter 
of  a  century  indeed,  or  irntil  Dr.  Benjamin 
W.  Dudley  of  Lexington,  came  upon  the  field, 
and  as  a  lecturer  upon  surgery  yearly  came 
liflore  large  classes  of  young  men  assembled 
at  the  JMedical  DeiDartment  of  Transylvania 
L'niver.sity  from  all  portions  of  the  Ohio  and 
jlississippi  Valleys,  had  an  opportunity  for 
extending  a  reputation  such  as  no  man  in 
the  West  ever  had  before  him.  we  may  .say 
that  Dr.  ^IcDowell  stood  ^\-ithout  one  to  dis- 
pute his  position  as  facile  princcps  in  surgery 
west  of  the  Alleghanies. 

During  this  time  his  practice  extended  in 
every  direction,  persons  coming  to  him  for 
treatment  from  aU  the  neighboring  states,  and 
he  frequently  taking  horseback  jotirneys  for 
hundreds  of  miles,  generally  the  only  mode  of 
travel  for  long  distances  at  that  day,  when 
neither  turnpikes  nor  railways  existed,  to 
o]j(?rate  npon  persons  whose  difficulties  were 
of  stteh  a  nattire  as  to  j^revent  their  visiting 
him  at  Danville.  As  far  as  is  known,  he  was 
in  tlie  habit  of  performing  e^•ery  surgical  op- 
eration then  taught  in  the  science.  In  lith- 
otomy he  was  extremely  successful;  up  to 
1S2S  he  was  known  to  have  operated  twenty- 
two  times  without  a  single  death.  For  stran- 
gulated hernia  he  also  operated  in  a  large 
number  of  cases,  and  we  have  good  rea.sons 
for  believing  that  he  successfully  extirpated 
the  parotid  gland  long  before  MeClellan  or 
any  other  American  surgeon  had  attempted 
it.  Indeed,  there  was  scarcely  anj'thing  from 
a  simple  amputation  to  tracheotomy  which 
was  to  be  done  btit  that,  if  Dr.  I\IcDowell  was 
accessible,  he  was  sent  for  to  perform  it. 

It  was  in  the  winter  of  1809,  when  he  had 
l)een  practicing  his  profession  for  fourteen 
years,  that  he  wa.s  sent  for  to  see  Mrs.  Craw- 
ford, residing  in  Green  county,  Kentucky, 
some  sixty  miles  from  Dau\ille,  who  was 
thought  by  her  dcc-toi-s  to  have  gone  long  be- 
yond her  time  in  pregnancy,  or  to  be  the  stib- 
.iect  of  extra-uterine  foetation.  ilcDowell 
found  her  trouble  really  to  be  an  ovarian  tu- 
mor, rapidly  hastening  to  a  fatal  termination. 
Tu  quote  the  graphic  description  of  Dr.  Gross : 
""After  a  most  thorough  and  critical  exarnin- 
alion.  Dr.  ^FcDowel!  informed  his  patient,  a 
woman  of  unusual  courage  and  strength  of 
n.ind,  that  the  only  chance  for  relief  was  the 
excision  of  the  diseased  mass.  He  explained 
to  her,  with  great  clearness  and  fidelity,  the 
nature  and  hazard  of  the  operation:  he  told 
her  that  he  had  never  performed  it,  bvit  that 
he  was  ready,  if  she  were  x^illing,  to  under- 
take it.  and  ri.sk  his  reputation  upon  the  isstie, 
adding  that  it  was  an  experiment,  but  an  ex- 
periment well  Avorthy  of  trial.     'Mrs.   Craw 


ford  listened  to  the  surgeon  witli  great  pa- 
tience and  coolness,  and;  at  the  close 
of  the  interview,  promptly  assured  him 
tJiat  she  was  not  only  willing,  but  ready  to 
submit  to  his  decision;  asserting  that  any 
luode  of  death,  suicide  excepted,  was  prefer- 
aljle  to  the  ceaseless  agony  which  she  was  en- 
du)-ing.  and  that  she  would  hazard  an\-thing 
that  held  out  even  the  most  remote  prospect 
of  relief.  The  result  has  been  long  before 
the  profession.  ]Mrs.  Crawford  submitted  to 
the  operation,  and  thus  became  the  first  sub- 
ject of  ovariotomy  of  whom  we  have  any 
knowledge." 

3Irs.  Crawford  was  fortj'-seven  at  the  tame 
of  the  opei'ation,  and  died  on  the  30th  of 
-March,  in  1841,  aged  seventy-eight. 

Althotigh  the  success  in  Mrs.  Crawford's 
case  had  been  everything  which  cottld  be  de- 
sii'cd,  it  was  not  until  seven  years  afterward, 
and  when  he  had  twice  repeated  the  opera- 
tion, that  he  published  any  account  of  it.  In 
J  81 6  he  prepared  a  brief  account  of  his  lii"St 
three  cases,  a  copy  of  wliich  he  forwarded  to 
his  old  preceptor,  John  Bell,  who  was  then 
ti-aveling  on  the  Continent  for  his  health,  and 
had  left  his  patients  and  professional  corre- 
spondence in  the  charge  of  Mr.  John  Lizars. 
Though  3Ir.  Bell  lived  until  1820,  he  never 
leturned  to  Edinbttrgh.  and  for  some  reason 
the  commttnicatiou  of  his  old  pupil  failed  to 
reach  him.  Another  copy  of  the  report,  how- 
ever, was  sent  to  Philadelphia  for  iJubliea- 
fion,  and  appeared  in  the  Eclectic  Repertory 
a  lid  Annlijtical  Be  view,  for  October,  1816. 
and  will  follow  this  paper. 

The  brevity  and  the  rather  loose  manner  in 
which  his  first  ca.ses  were  recorded,  exposed 
Dr.  ^IcDowell  to  criticism,  and  Dr.  Hender- 
son and  Dr.  ^lichener,  of  Philadelphia,  each, 
in  articles  in  the  Repertory,  i-eviewed  him 
rather  sarcastically  and  doubtingly,  while  Dr. 
James  Johnson,  the  catistie  editor  of  the  Lon- 
doii  Meclico-Chinireiical  Review,  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity,  and 
declared  outright  his  total  disbelief  of  Dr. 
^fcDowell's  statements.  A  few  years  there- 
after, when  the  accuracy  of  the  report  had 
been  fully  confirmed,  he.  however,  frankly  ac- 
knowledged his  pre^^ous  error,  sa^•ing:  "A 
back  settleui'^nt  of  .\merica,  Kentttcky.  has 
beaten  the  mother  eottntry,  nay  Europe  it- 
self with  all  the  boasted  stirgeons  thereof,  in 
tlie  fearful  and  formidable  operation  of  gas- 
trotoray  with  extraction  of  diseased  ovaries. 
*  *  *  There  were  circumstances  in  the  nar- 
i-ativc  of  the  first  tltree  cases  that  raised  mis- 
givings in  our  minds,  for  which  tmeharitable- 
Jiesp  we  a.sk  pardon  of  God  and  of  Dr.  !Mc- 
Do>vell,  of  Danville." 

In  the  Heperlory  for  October.  1819,  he  re- 
]iorted  two  more  eases,  and,  in  connection  with 
t]i-?m.  incidentally  alltided  to  his  critics  and 
Iheii-  criticisms  to  this  effect: 


MEDICAL     PIONEEh'S     OF    KENTVCKY. 


13 


■'I  thought  my  statement  sufficiently  ex- 
plicit to  warrant  any  surgeon  performing 
the  operation,  when  necessary,  without  haz- 
arding the  odium  of  making  an  experiment, 
and  I  think  my  description  of  the  mode  of  op 
eration,  and  of  the  anatomy  of  the  parts  con- 
cerned, clear  enough  to  enable  any  good  anat- 
omist possessing  the  judgment  requisite  for 
a  surgeon,  to  operate  with  safety.  I  hope  no 
ojierator  of  any  other  description  may  ever 
attempt  it.  It  is  my  most  ardent  wish  that 
this  operation  maj^  remain  to  the  mechanical 
surgeon  ever  incomprehensible.  Such  have 
been  the  bane  of  the  science,  intruding  them- 
selves into  the  ranks  of  the  proifession,  with 


destructive  to  their  patients,  and  disgracefiil 
to  the  science.  It  is  by  such  the  noble  science 
has  been  degraded,  in  the  minds  of  many,  to 
the  rank  of  an  art." 

In  the  summer  of  1822  he  made  a  long 
horseback  jonrney  of  some  hundreds  of  miles 
into  iliddle  Tennessee  and  back,  and  perform- 
ed ovariotomy  with  a  successful  result  upon 
^Irs.  Overton,  who  resided  near  the  Hermi- 
tage, the  residence  of  the  late  President  Jack- 
son. Mrs.  Overton  was  enormously  obese,  and 
ho-  had  to  cut  through  four  inches  of  fat 
ujion  the  abdomen.  The  only  assistants  he 
had  in  the  operation,  as  we  have  been  inform- 
ed, were  General  Jackson  and  a  ilrs.  Priest- 


TRAVELERS'  REST 

Near  Danville,  the  home  of  Isaac  Shelby,  first  and  sixth  Governor  of  Kentucky.  Here  Dr.  McDowell  was  mar  - 
rled  to  Sarah  Shelby,  daughter  of  the  Governor,  in  1S02.  and  here  they  both  lay  buried  until  their  bodies  were 
removed  to  Monumsnt  Square,  Danville,  in  1879. 


no  other  qualification,  but  in  boldness  in  un- 
dertaking, ignorance  of  theiT  responsibility 
and  indiifereuce  to  the  lives  of  their  patients  -, 
jiroceeding  according  to  the  special  dictate  of 
some  author  as  mechanical  as  themselves,  they 
cut  and  tear  "with  fearless  indifference,  in- 
capable of  exercising  any  judgment  of  their 
own  in  cases  of  emergency ;  and  sometimes 
without  possessing  the  slightest  knowledge  of 
the  auatomjr  of  the  parts  concerned. 

"The   preposterous   and   impious   attempts 
of  such  pretenders  can  seldom  fail  to  prove 


le,y.  General  Jackson  seems  to  have  been 
greatly  pleased  with  the  Doctor  and  had  him 
to  go  to  his  house  and  remove  a  large  tumor 
growing  from  the  neck  and  shoulder  of  one 
of  ills  negro  men.  Dr.  I^IcDowell's  charge  for 
his  operation  upon  Mrs.  Overton  was  five 
hundred  dollars,  but  the  husband,  with  n 
commendable  generosity,  gave  a  check  upon 
one  of  the  Nashville  banks  for  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars,  which  upon  the  Doctor's  pre- 
senting for  payment,  and  discovering  the  pre- 
suined  error  for  the  first  time,  sent  a  messen- 


14 


KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOUL'XAL. 


gur  back  to  ^Ir.  Overtou  to  have  it  corrected, 
iiut  that  g-entleiuau  replied  that,  far  from  be- 
ing a  niistaJve,  he  felt  that  he  had  not  even 
tlieu  made  a  fiUl  cooipeusatiou  for  the  great 
service  which  Dr.  .McDowell  had  rendered. 

How  many  times  during  his  career  he  had 
occasion  to  perl'orin  ovariotomy  is  not  now 
certainly  known.  He  seems  to  have  been 
fonder  of  the  scalpel  than  the  pen;  indeed,  to 
have  been  of  that  cla.ss  of  mankind,  of  which 
we  liave  all  seen  si:)ecimens,  even  among  the 
ablest  ami  most  cultivated,  who  have  a  nat- 
ural antipathy  to  writing.  He  is  said  to  have 
kept  no  notes  of  his  cases,  and  with  the  ex 
ception  of  the  two  communications  above 
quoted,  and  in  1826,  when  many  tried  to 
wrest  liis  honors  from  him,  a  card  to  the  pro- 
tcssion,  and  addressed  especially  to  the 
■"-Medical  Faculty  and  Class  at  Lexington," 
which  he  was  induced  to  publish,  defending 
his  veracity  and  claims  to  having  been  the 
hrst  to  perform  and  estahlish  the  feasibility 
of  the  :-einoval  of  diseased  ovaries,  is  about 
all  he  wrote  for  publication  regarding  his 
o])eratious.  However,  his  nephew,  Dr.  Wm. 
-\.  McDowell,  who  was  for  five  3'ears  his  pu- 
pil, and  two  yeai-s  Ms  partner,  tells  us  that  up 
to  J  820  his  uncle  had  done  seven  cases,  six  of 
which  he  witnessed,  and  that  six  of  the  seven 
were  successful.  After  the  removal  of  this 
nepiiew  from  Kentucky  tO'  Fineastle,  Vir- 
ginia, Dr.  Albaii  G.  Smith  succeeded  to  his 
position  as  partner  to  Dr.  Eplii'aim  McDow- 
ell, and  while  with  him  Dr.  Smith  himself 
twice  performed  ovariotomy.  The  younger 
.McDowell  stated  that  he  had  reliable  testi- 
mony of  his  uncle  having  during  his  life  op- 
erated at  least  thirteen  times,  exclusive  of  the 
two  eases  Dr.  Smith  operated  upon,  when 
they  were  in  partnership,  and  that  of  the 
cases  operated  upon  by  his  uncle  subsequent 
to  )iis  retiring  from  partnership,  he  had  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  the  recovery  of  two.  This 
Mould  make  a  total  of  thirteen  cases,  with 
eiglit  recoveries. 

Or.  ^IcDowell  seems  to  have  been  very 
cai-eless  of  either  his  present  or  posthumous 
fame,  and  to  have  originally  drawn  up  the 
report  of  his  cases  at  the  repeated  solicitation 
oi'  liis  nepliCAV,  Dr.  James  McDowell,  who,  up 
to  the  time  of  ills  premature  di,'ath,  had  been 
tile  partner  of  his  uncle,  as  his  cousin  Will- 
iam, to  whom  we  have  alluded,  afterwards 
was.  The  idea  that  his  success  would  be  pleas 
iiig  to  his  former  preceptor,  John  Bell,  to 
wlicm  he  felt  he  owed  his  determination  to 
perform  the  operation,  according  to  his 
nephew,  seemed  more  than  all  el.se  to  have  in- 
duced him  to  put  his  cases  befoi-e  the  profes- 
sional world. 

Long  after  all  dispute  of  the  authenticity 
of  Dr.  ^IcDowell  's  cases  had  ceased,  the  med- 
ical literature  of  the  past  was  ransacked  to 
find  some  one  who  had  preceded  him  in  the 


ojieration.  Indeed,  until  the  critical  investiga- 
tions of  Dr.  Gross,  it  was  generally  believed 
that  L'Aumonier,  Dzondi,  and  Galenzowski 
had  all  preceded  hun,  by  having  each  done  at 
least  a  single  ovariotomy.  Going  to  the  orig- 
inal records  of  these  gentlemen,  however,  it 
was  found  that  the  first  had  only  punctured  an 
abscess  of  the  ovai-y.  that  Dzondi 's  was  sim- 
ply a  case  of  gastrolomy  upon  a  boy  for  a 
pelvic  tumor,  and  Galenzowski 's  case  while 
really  an  imperfect  ovariotomy,  was  not  done 
initil  1827,  eighteen  years  after  the  first  ease 
of  ?iIeDowell.  When  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell 
performed  his  fii'st  operation,  as  he  said  in 
the  publication  of  it,  he  had  never  "heard  of 
an  attempt  or  success  attending  any  opera- 
lion  such  as  this  required."  At  present  we 
are  not  aware  tliat  even  the  most  persevering 
antiquarian  research  has  been  able  to  find  an 
undoubted  ovariotomy  before  the  time  of  Mc- 
Dowell; for  although  we  observe  that  Mr. 
Sjiencer  Wells,  in  his  recently  published  his- 
tory of  the  oi'igin  and  progress  of  ovariotomy, 
sa.vs,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Washing-ton  L. 
Alice,  that  Dr.  Robert  Houston  operated  near 
Glasgow  in  1701,  and  that  "from  this  case  it 
will  appear  that  ovariotomy  originated  with 
Uritish  surgeiy,  on  British  ground,"  yet  a 
reference  to  the  original  record  shows  very 
jiiainly  that  Dr.  Houston  was  never  really  an 
ovariotomist,  in  the  sense  of  his  having  re- 
moved an  ovarj^,  his  operation,  like  L'Aumon- 
ier's,  consisting  of  laying  open  the  diseased 
ovary  and  evacuating  a  large  quantity  of  gel- 
atinous fluid,  when,  as  he  saj's,  "I. squeezed 
out  all  I  could  and  stitched  up  the  wound  in 
three  places  almost  equidistant."  We  ob- 
serve that  Dr.  Allee,  in  his  volume  on  "Ovar- 
ian Tuuiors, "  dedicates  the  book  to  his 
brother,  Dr.  John  L.  Atlee,  and  to  the  mem- 
ory of  "Dr.  Eplu-aim  McDowell,  the  Father 
of  Ovariotomy."  Even  had  the  operation 
been  done  many  times  before,  forgotten  or  un- 
noticed, as  the  case  lay  among  the  dead  rec- 
ords of  the  past,  it  should  not  and  would  not 
derogate  at  all  from  the  glory  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell, who  had  never  heard  even  of  any  at- 
tempt to  perform  it,  and  who,  after  liis  per- 
formance of  it,  first  succeeded  in  ef^tabldsli- 
ing  it  as  a  legitimate  operation  in  the  medical 
world.  When  we  think  of  one  living  on  the 
border  of  Western  civilization,  in  a  little  town 
of  between  four  and  five  hundred  inhabitants, 
far  removed  from  the  opportunity  of  consulta- 
tion with  any  one  whose  opinion  might  be  of 
any  value  to  him  in  such  a  case,  and  near  a 
thousand  miles  away  from  the  nearest  hos- 
pital or  college  dissecting-room  at  which  he 
might  have  had  opportunity  of  studying  and 
])racticing  upon  some  body  who  had  perished 
of  the  disease  before  performing  a  new  tm- 
tried  operation  of  such  fearful  magnitude  up- 
on the  living,  and  learn  of  his  liaAnng  ponder- 
ed and  contemplated  all  the  difficulties,  and 


MEDICAL     PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY. 


15 


with  a  full  sense  of  the  dangers  liable  to  envi- 
ron him  in  the  attempt,  and  then,  without 
ether  or  chloroform,  and  by  the  aid  of  prob- 
ably only  one  fully  skilled  assistant  and  two 
or  three  medical  students,  see  him  attempt 
and  successfully  perform  tlie  first  ovariotomy, 
our  admiration  for  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell's 
courage  and  skill  rises  to  its  full  height,  and 
we  feel  that  he  is  justly  entitled  to  have  ap- 
].)]ied  to  him  Horace's  words,  describing  the 
stoutness  of  heart  of  the  first  mariners  who 
had  the  boldness  to  go  down  into  the  sea  in 
ships : 

Illi  robur  ct  ase  triplex, 

Circa  pectus  erat,  qui  fragilem  truci 
Ccimmisit  vclago  ralem 

Primus. 

Dr.  McDowell,  in  person,  was  nearly  six- 
feet  in  height,  of  commanding  carriage,  of  a 
rafher  florid  complexion,  with  black  eyes  and 
dark  hair,  and  deemed  in  youth  a  quite  hand- 
some man.  He  was  always  remarkable  for 
liis  strength  and  agility,  and  while  at  Edin- 
Irargh  was  pronoiinced  the  swiftest  foot-racer 
of  the  whole  University,  He  was  one  of  the 
kindest-hearted  and  most  amiable  men,  over- 
ilowing  with  cheerfulness  and  good  humor, 
and  readily  approachable  by  the  world.  He 
seemed  to  be  totally  devoid  of  all  reserve  and 
austerity,  a  tinge  of  which  is  generally  char- 
acteristic of  the  scholar  and  professional  man, 
and  never  appeared  to  assume  that  thei-e  was 
any  difference  between  the  plane  of  his  voca- 
tion and  that  of  the  humblest  imlettered 
artisan.  This  seemed  instinctively  to  strike 
all  who  came  in  contact  with  him,  and  an 
easiness  amounting  almost  to  familiarity  ex- 
isted b(4ween  him  and  his  fellow-citizens. 
So  true  was  this,  that  with  the  masses,  prob- 
ably because  of  this  very  fact,  he  was  not  gen- 
erally appreciated  for  his  true  worth.  A 
man  in  manner  arrogating  to  himself  nothing 
above  the  populace,  as  may  readilv  be  believ- 
ed, would  not,  save  by  those  gifted  with  some- 
thing above  common  penetration  be  acknowl- 
edged to  be  superior  to  their  sphere.  Never, 
however,  was  any  of  this  air  of  familiarity  in 
the  slightest  degree  tinctured  with  profes- 
sional demagoguery.  His  bitterest  enemies 
did  not  once  accuse  him  of  this.  Bv  a  gentle 
man  of  keen  perception,  yet  living,  whose 
father's  family  physician  Jie  was,  I  am  told 
that  never  was  there  a  man- whose  life  was 
freer  from  the  acts  of  the  charlatan,  or  more 
entirelv  devoid  of  all  the  petty  "tricks  of 
trade,"  which  too  frequently  disgrace  the 
medical  profession.  Wliile  in- the  sick  rooin, 
though  he  was  fond  of  gossiping  about  loea'' 
matters  and  the  events  of  the  dav,  he  habitu- 
ally refrained  from  discussing  things  medical, 
or  any  of  the  affairs  of  his  rivals,  with  some 
of  whom  he  was  publicly  kncnvn  to  be  on 
ajiything  but    good    terms.     While    in  daily 


competition  with  certain  members  of  the  pro- 
fession, whose  chief  strength  /was  in  the  ap- 
])lication  of  such  arts,  they  and  their  artifices 
were  held  in  supreme  contempt  by  him.  From 
what  we  can  learn,  one  of  the  constant  en- 
deavors of  these  gentlemen,  who  knew  that 
they  never  could  approach  McDowell  by  fair 
competition,  was  to  try  to  train  the  com- 
munity to  believe  that  there  was  a  sort  of 
essential  incompatibility  between  surgery  and 
medicine;  and  that  because  he  was  infinitely 
their  superior  in  surgical  knowledge  and 
manual  dexterity,  ,iust  by  so  much  was  he 
their  inferior  in  all  the  intricacies  of  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine,  whose  arcana  were  not  so 
appreciably  evident  to  the  public  as  the  more 
demonstrable  worlc  of  the  surgeon.  Or,  as 
thej''  were  in  the  habit  of  putting  it,  that  while 
he  was  a  bold  surgeon,  he  was  but  a  poor 
"fever  doctor."  So  far  from  this  being  the 
case,  however,  he  kept  himself  fully  abreast 
with  the  progress  of  medicine  by  reading  all 
that  was  new  on  the  subject,  and  was  prob- 
alily  really  as  far  in  advance  of  his  coimpetit- 
oi's  in  physic  as  in  surgery.  Certainly  we  now 
know  that  in  the  treatment  of  fever,  he  was  in 
some  respects  ahead  of  his  time,  though  at 
variance  with  the  generall}^  accepted  doc- 
trines of  his  day  and  the  prevailing  custom  of 
the  physicians  of  his  section.  At  that  period 
it  was  customary  to  give  more  or  less  mercurj- 
in  the  progress  of  every  fever  and,  a.fter  a 
dose  of  calomel  or  blue-mass,  to  allow  the  pa- 
tient cold  water  was  thouaht  to  be  recklessly 
dan  serous.  The  standard  ti-eatment  of  the 
country  was,  to  let  the  patient  have  no  drink 
l)ut  what  was  warmed,  and  this  usually  con 
sisted  of  water  in  which  a  piece  of  burnt 
bread-crust  or  wann  toast  had  been  .soaked. 
On  the  contrary.  Dr.  McDowell  used  to  tell 
his  patients  that  there  was  no  danger  in  cold 
water  while  the  skin  was  hot  and,  while  such 
was  the  case,  he  allowed  them  to  u.se  it  ad  lih- 
ilHW..  1  have  heard  an  old  gentleman,  who 
lived  in  an  adjoining  countv  tell  how.  when 
he  was  a.  boy,  and  one  of  his  brothers  lay  verv 
ill  of  a  fever.  Dr.  McDowell  was  sent  for,  and 
of  the  anxious  fears  of  the  family,  while 
obeying"  the  directions  of  the  Doctor,  who  had 
the  patient  laid  naked  upon  the  floor,  and 
bueketful  after  bucketful  of  cold  water  nour- 
ed  over  him,  to  his  great  relief  and  ultimate 
recoverv.  In  medicine  he  looked  upon  Syden- 
baiu  and  Cullen  as  the  master  minds  and  set 
their  works  above  all  others  on  practice. 

To  the  svstem  of  over-drupitring.  then  so 
common,  he  was  an  enemy,  belie^dnsf  that  as 
then  given  bv  the  mass  of  the  profession, 
without  discrimination,  drues  were  produc- 
ins'.  in  the  asiarregate.  more  harm  than  g-ood, 
Tlionaii  practicing  medicine  with  more  than 
ordinarv  abilitv.  vet  his  inclinations  were 
alwavs  especiflllv  toward  sura-erv,  and  it  was 
his  custom,  when  practicable,  to  throw  as  far 


16 


KEXTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOVnXAL. 


as  possible  the  iiiedieal  practice  into  tlie  hands 
oh"  liis  partner. 

lie  was  a  most  aceomfplished  anatomist, 
!i)i(i  nsod  every  winter,  in  conjunction  with 
liis  office  students,  of  whom  he  generally  had 
at  least  two  or  Ihree,  to  dissect  in  the  upper 
story  of  an  old  abandoned  building  -which 
lind  formerly  been  the  county  jail;  and  his 
office,  in  the  course  of  time,  had  quite  a  uuui 
her  of  anatomical  preparations,  the  work  of 
liis  own  hand.  "When  having  determined  upon 
tlie  performance  of  any  capital  operation,  his 
custom  was  to  di'ill  beforehand  his  students 
who  were  to  assist  him  thoroughly,  until  each, 
was  perfect  in  the  part  he  was  to  perform : 
not  only  this,  but  he  compelled  each  to  give  a 
succinct  history  of  the  nature  of  the  difficulty 
i-equiriu-g  the  operation,  the  anatomy  of  the 
jiarts  involved,  the  tissues  to  be  divided,  and 
then  to  rehearse  the  different  steps  of  the  op- 
eration itself.  As  an  operator,  it  was  the  in- 
variable opinion  of  all  competent  judges  that, 
for  coolness  and  dexterity,  they  had  never 
seen  his  equal.  From  the  moment  he  took  the 
knife  in  his  hand,  preparatoiy  to  operating, 
he  -.eemed  to  become  enthused,  and  to  the  by- 
standers looked  like  quite  a  different  man. 

He  po.ssessed  an  excellent  medical  library 
for  his  day  and  locality,  and  was  in  the  habit 
of  purchasing  most  of  the  principal  new 
works  on  their  issue.  While  having  a  fair 
knowledge  of  the  classics,  yet  most  of  his  pro- 
fessional leisure  he  gave  to  history  and  belle- 
lettres.  Burns  was  an  especial  favorite  with 
him.  and  fro'u  his  familiai-ity  with  the  Scot- 
tish dialect,  acquired  while  in  Edinburgh,  his 
readings  and  quotations  were  given  with  the 
idiom  as  perfect  as  if  he  had  been  a  native  of 
'"Auld  Keekie." 

As  a  citizen,  he  was  charitable  and  public 
spirited,  favoring  and  contributing,  by  his 
means,  to  mo.st  of  the  enterprises  which  prom- 
ised wood  to  the  conuuuuitv  in  which  he  resid- 
ed. He  was  an  especial  friend  to  r'entre  Col- 
h'ge,  cooperating  larselv  by  his  influence  and 
money  toward  its  foinidation,  and  was  indeed 
one  of  its  original  corporators  and  curators. 
This.  too.  although  its  government  was  the 
Presbvterian  Church,  while  he  himself  was. 
in  ]-eligion.  an  Episcopalian.  The  site  of  the 
present  Episcopal  edifice.  TrinitA-  Chui-ch, 
was  a  contribution  from  Dr.  IMcDowell. 

In  ISO?  he  marT'jed  Sarah,  a  daughter  of 
Governor  Isaac  Shelby,  -with  whom  he  lived 
happilv,  and  raised  a  family  of  two  sons  and 
four  daughters,  onlv  three  of  whom  suiwived 
hitn.  ^Irs.  ^rcT^owell  was  his  survivor  by  ten 
years. 

While  in  the  full  vigor  of  life,  and  in  the 
iiiidst  of  his  professional  work,  he  contracted 
an  "inf.amniatorv  fever  "  and,  after  an  ill- 
ness of  a  fortnight,  died  in  DauAnlle  on  the 
2fith  dav  of  -June.   1S30.   and  was  buried  at 


Ti'avelers'  Rest,  one  of  the  estates  of  the  Shel- 
by family,  some  six  miles  south  of  the  town. 

When  we  consider  the  results  to  mankind 
of  the  labors  of  Dr.  ^McDowell,  we  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  rank  him  with  the  great  benefactors 
of  the  race.  Before  the  19th  century,  of  the 
thousands  of  women  afflicted  with  ovarian 
ili'opsy,  to  net  one  could  the  most  astute  or 
boldest  of  the  healing  profession  pi-omise 
a  ay  thing  hopeful.  Tlie  promise  of  the  doctor, 
wh'm  called  to  such  a  case,  was  that  of  the 
pi'iest,  and  not  much  more;  for  he  could  only 
say:  "two  years  of  life,  filled  -with  gradually 
increasing  nr'sery.  is  the  full. compass  of  the 
days  allotted  to  a  woman  who  may  find  that 
she  has  an  ovarian  tumor,  and  unless  God 
\\orks  a  n\iracle  in  your  case,  such  is  your  in- 
evitable fate."  But  now,  since  the  establish- 
ment of  ovariotomy  by  ^McDowell,  the  matter 
stands  quite  differently,  for  the  physician  of 
our  era  to-day,  can  say;  "it  is  trae  that  with- 
out an  riperation  you  are  ine\itably  doomed  to 
death  after  some  two  j-ears  of  miserable  suf- 
fering; but  by  ovariotomy  you  have  seventy 
chances  or  more  out  of  a  hundred,  much  bet- 
ter than  one  undergoing  an  amputation  of  the 
thigh,  not  only  of  recovery,  but  a  full  restor- 
ation to  health." 

Dr.  Peaslee  has  made  a  calculation,  based 
on  this  kno'wn  law  of  the  length  of  life  of  i 
woman  who  had  an  ovarian  tumor  uninter- 
fered  with,  and  the  average  age  of  all  the 
recorded  cases  of  ovariotomy  up  to  1S70.  and 
the  probabilities  of  longevity  of  healthy  wo- 
men of  that  age,  according  to  the  most  ap- 
proved tables  of  life  insurance,  and  has  sho'svn 
that,  "in  the  United  States  and  Clreat  Brit- 
ain alone,  ovariotomy  has,  within  the  last 
thirty  years,  directly  contributed  more  than 
thirty  thousand  years  of  active  life  to  woman  : 
all  of  which  would  have  been  lost  had  ovari- 
otomy never  been  performed";  to  say  nothing 
of  saving  her  more  than  a  thousand  years  of 
TUitold  suffering.  With  these  facts  before 
them,  most  devoutly  indeed  should  all  wo- 
mankind bless  the  name  of  I\rcDowell. 

To  one  living  in  Athens  in  the  days  of  the 
glory  of  ancient  Greece,,  and  conferring  siach 
a  boon  on  the  hitman  race  as  OA'ariotomy.  rank 
among  the  demigods  with  a  temple  and  an 
altar,  wotdd  have  beeii  accorded  him  by  accla- 
mation of  the  people.  Had  he  lived  in  the 
palmv  davs  of  the  "Roman  Republic,  the  high- 
est civic  honors,  a  medal  and  a  statue,  if  not 
a  shrine  in  the  teiuple.  would  have  been  his 
bv  a  decree  of  the  Senate:  and  had  Ephraim 
^IcDowell  been  born  and  flourished  in  any 
one  of  the  principalities  of  Europe,  instead 
of  the  I"^nited  States,  long  since  would  the 
Government,  proud  of  siich  a  son,  have  con- 
ferred titles  of  distinction  upon  him  and  his 
children  while  living,  and  erected  a  fittinor 
monument  to  his  memory  when  dead.  But  it 
seems  that  to  us  of  the  boa.sted  Great  Repub- 


MEDICAL     PIONEEh'S     OF     KENTUCKY. 


17 


lie  of  the  Western  World,  the  proverbial 
charge  regarding  the  ingratitude  of  Republies 
is  literally  applicable  in  the  case  of  the  sub- 
ject of  our  sketch.  Sueh  were  the  thoughts 
wliieh  crowded  upon  us  recently,  when  we 
made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  burial-ground  of 
the  Shelby  family  at  Travelers'  Rest,  and  af- 
ter climbing  the  stone-wall  enclosure,  finally 
succeeded  in  struggling  our  way  through  the 
brambles,  briars,  tall  weeds,  and  rank  grass, 
to  the  neglected,  lichen-covered  sandstone 
slab,  with  simply  the  name  of  Ephriam  Mc- 
Dowell upon  it,  which  lies  superimposed  above 


erect  the  tallest  shaft  in  all  the  land  to  mark 
his  resting-place,  she  would  but  justly  confer 
the  worthiest  of  honor  on  one  of  her  children ; 
yet  does  his  fame  not  rest  with  us  alone,  nor 
is  the  benefieience  of  ovariotomy  confined 
alone  to  our  part  of  the  globe. 

Ijike  Jenner,  McDowell  has  been  a  bene- 
factor for  the  generations  of  all  times,  and 
all  countries,  and  as  a  few  years  ago  the  world 
at  large  contributed  to  the  statue  of  Jenner, 
now  erected  in  Hyde  Park,  London,  so  do 
v/e  think  it  most  fitting  that  all  nations  be  al- 
lowed to  contribute  to  a  suitable  statue  to  Mc- 


THE  GRAVES  OF  DR.  AND  MRS.  McDOWELL  AT  TRAVELERS'  REST 


the  remains  of  one  to  whom  the  whole  world 
should  feel  deeply  grateful,  and  of  whom 
Kentucky  and  the  American  Republic  may 
always  be  justly  proud. 

While  Kentucky,  and  nearly  every  state  of 
the  Republic,  have  at  different  times  voted 
monuments,  statues  or  paintings,  to  one  and 
another  political  favorite  or  military  idol  of 
the  day,  the  worthiness  of  the  commemoration 
of  none  of  whom  is  to  be  compared  to  that  of 
McDowell,  and  while     if    our    State  should 


Dowell,  to  be  erected  in  Danville,  the  scene  of 
the  first  ovariotomy.  But  since  Dr.  McDowell 
has  been  woman's  special  benefactor,  we  think 
it  would  be  especially  appropriate  that  the 
gratitude  of  the  women  of  all  nations  should 
be  allowed  to  display  itself  in  the  erection  of 
a  fitting  memorial  to  their  friend.  Indeed, 
that  a  bronze  statue  of  life  size  should  be 
erected  solely  from  the  voluntary  contribu- 
tions throughout  the  world  of  those  who  may 
owe  their  lives  to  the  operation  of  ovariotomy. 


]8 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


TTIUEE    OASES   OJ^^   EXTIRPATION   OF 
DISEASED  OVARIES.* 

I5y  EpiTRAiM  McDowell,  M.  D. 

'•Ciiso  I.  Ill  Deeeinlier,  1809,  I  was  called 
to  see  a  Mrs.  Crawford,  who  had  for  several 
iiionths  thought  herself  pregnant.  She  was 
aPfeeted  with  pain  .similar  to  labor  pains,  for 


was  to  one  side,  admitting  of  an  easy  remov- 
al to  the  other.  Upon  examination,  per 
\aginaui,  I  found  nothing  in  the  nterns,  which 
induced  the  conclusion  that  it  must  be  an  en- 
larged ovarium.  Having  never  seen  so  large 
;i  substance  extracted,  nor  heard  of  an  at- 
tempt or  success  attending  any  operation  such 
as  this  required,  I  gave  to  the  unhappy  wo- 
man information  of  her  dangerous  siutation. 


THE  FIRST  OVARIOTOMY 

Copy  of  an  idealized  picture,  said  to  have  been  painted  from  a  sketch  and  description  by  Dr.  Albin  Goldsmith, 
a  partner  of  Dr.  McDowell,  and  an  assistant  at  this  and  other  of  his  operations. 

By  the  courtssy  of  Dr.  Fayette  Dunlap.  DanvHle 


which  she  could  find  no  relief.  So  strong  was 
the  presumption  of  her  being  in  the  la'st  stage 
of  pregnancy,  that  two  physicians  who  were 
consulted  in  her  case  requested  my  aid  in  de- 
livering her.  The  abdomen  was  considerably 
t'ularged.  and  had  the  appearance  of  preg- 
nancy,   Ihough   the   inclination  of  the  tumor 

*.V  reprint  from  the  Electric  Kepertoiw  anfl  Analytical 
Review,  of  Philadeluhia.  October.  ISlii.then  the  only  medical 
journal  published  in  this  country. 


She  appeared  willing  to  undergo  an  experi- 
ment, which  I  promised  to  perform,  if  she 
would  some  to  Danville,  the  town  where  I 
live,  a  distance  of  sixt,y  miles  from  her  place 
of  residence.  This  api:)eared  almost  imprac- 
ticable b.y  any  though  the  most  favorable  con- 
veyance, though  she  performed  the  journey 
in  a  few  days  on  horseback.  "With  the  assist- 
iuice  of  my  nephew  and  colleague,  James  ^Ic- 
Dowell,  M.  D..   I  commenced  the  operation, 


MEDICAL     PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


19 


which  was  concluded  as  follows:  Having 
j)laced  her  on  a  table  of  the  ordinary  height, 
on  her  back,  and  removed  all  her  dressing 
'which  might  in  any  way  impede  the  opera- 
tion, I  made  an  incision  about  three  inches 
long,  from  the  musculus  rectus  abdominis,  on 
the  left  side,  continuing  the  same  nine  inches 
in  length,  parallel  with  the  fibres  of  the  above- 
named  muscle,  extending  into  the  cavity  of 
the  abdomen,  the  parietes  of  which  were  a 
good  deal  contused,  which  we  ascribed  to  the 
resting  of  the  tumor  on  the  horn  of  the  saddle 
during  tlie  journey.  The  tumor  then  appear- 
ed full  in  view,  but  was  so  large  that  we  could 
not  take  it  away  entire.  We  put  a  strong  liga- 
ture around  the  Fallopian  tube  near  to  the 
utei'us ;  we  then  cut  open  the  tumor,  which 
was  tlie  ovarium,  and  the  fimbriated  part  of 
the  Fallopian  tube  very  much  enlarged.  We 
took  out  fifteen  pounds  of  a  dirty,  gelatinous- 
looking  substance ;  after  which  we  cut  through 
tlie  Fallopian  and  extracted  the  sac,  which 
^^•eighed  seven  pounds  and  a  half.  As  soon  as 
the  external  opening  was  made,  the  intestines 
i-ushed  out  upon  the  table,  and  so  completely 
was  the  abdomen  filled  by  tumor,  that  they 
could  not  be  replaced  during  the  operation, 
which  was  terminated  in  about  twenty-five 
minutes.  We  then  turned  her  upon  her  left 
side,  so  as  to  permit  the  blood  to  escape,  af- 
ter Avhich  we  closed  the  external  opening  with 
tlie  interrupted  suture,  leaving  out  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  incision  the  ligature  which 
surrounded  the  Fallopian  tube.  Between 
every  two  stitches  we  put  a  strip  of  adhesive 
plaster,  which,  by  keeping  the  parts  in  con- 
taet.  hastened  the  healing  of  the  incision.  We 
then  applied  the  usual  dressing,  put  her  to 
bed,  and  prescribed  a  strict  observance  of 
the  antiphlogTstic  regimen.  In  five  days,  I 
visited  her,  and  much  to  my  astonishment 
found  her  engaged  in  making  up  her  bed.  ] 
gave  her  particular  caution  for  the  future 
and  in  twenty-five  days  she  returned  home,  as 
she  came,  in  good  health,  which  she  continued 
to  enjoy." 

"Case  II.  Since  the  above  case,  I  was  call- 
ed to  a  negi'o  woman  who  had  a  hard  and 
very  painful  tumor  in  the  abdomen.  I  gave 
her  mercury  for  three  or  four  months,  with 
some  abatement  of  pain,  but  she  was  .still  un- 
able to  perform  her  usual  duties.  As  the 
tumor  was    fixed    and    immovable,  I    did  not 


advise  an  operation,  though,  from  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  her  master  and  her  own  dis- 
tressful condition,  T  agreed  to  the  experiment. 
1  had  her  placed  upon  a  table,  laid  her  side 
open,  as  in  the  above  case,  put  my  hand  in, 
found  the  ovarium  very  much  enlarged,  pain- 
ful to  1he  touch,  and  firmly  adhering  to  the 
vesica-urinaria  and  fundus  uteri.  To  iex- 
trai.'t,  I  thought  would  be  instantly  fatal ;  but 
l)y  way  of  experiment,  I  plunged  the  scalpel 
into  the  diseased  part.  Much  gelatinous  sub- 
stance, as  in  the  above  case,  with  a  profus- 
ion of  blood,  rushed  to  the  external  openiug, 
and  I  co]iveyed  it  off  by  placing  my  hand  un- 
der the  tumor  and  suffering  the  discharge  to 
take  place  over  it.  Notwithstanding  my  great 
cai.-e,  a  quart  or  moi'e  of  blood  escaped  into  the 
abdomen.  After  the  hemorrhage  had  ceased, 
I  took  out  as  cleanly  ns  possible  the  blood,  in 
^vhich  the  bowels  were  completely  enveloped. 
Though  I  considered  the  case  as  nearly  hope 
less,  T  advised  the  same  dressings  and  the 
sa.ae  regimen  as  in  the  above  case.  She  has 
entirely  recovered  from  all  pain,  and  pursues 
her  ordiiiary  occupation.'' 

"Case  II.  In  May,  181,6,  a  negro  woman 
was  brought  to  me  from  a  distance.  I  found 
the  ovariiun  much  enlarged,  and  as  it  could 
be  easily  moved  from  side  to  side,  I  advised 
the  extraction  of  it.  As  it  adhered  to  the  left 
side,  I  changed  my  plan  of  opening  to  the 
linea  alba.  I  began  the  incision,  in  company 
with  my  partner  and  colleague.  Dr.  Wm. 
Coffer,  an  inch  below  the  umbilicus,  and  ex- 
tended it  to  within  an  inch  of  the  os  pubis. 
I  then  put  a  ligature  around  the  Fallopian 
tube,  and  endeavored  to  turn,  out  the  tumor, 
but  could  not.  I  then  cut  to  the  right  of  the 
umbilicus  and  above  it  two  inches,  turned  out 
a  scirrhous  ovarium,  weighing  ,six  pounds, 
and  cut  it  off  close  to  the  ligature  put  arOund 
the  Fallopian  tube.  I  then  closed  the  external 
opening  as  in  former  cases,  and  she  complain- 
ing of  cold  and  chilliness,  I  put  her  to  bed 
prior  to  dressing  her ;  then  gatve  her  a  wine- 
glassful  of  cherry-bounce  and  thirty  drops  of 
laudanum,  which  soon  restoring  her  warmth, 
when  she  'was  dressed  as  usual.  She  was  well 
iji  two  weeks,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the 
cord  was  taken  away,  and  she  now,  withoiit 
complaint,  officiates  in  the  laborious  occupa- 
tion of  cook  to  a  large  family. ' ' 

Danville,  Kentucky. 


20  KEXTI'CKY     MEDICAL     JOUFXAL. 

FACSIMILE  OF  A  LETTER  FROM  DR.   McDOWELL.* 

WRITTEX  THE   YKAR   BEFORE   HIS  DEATH. 


^./-^^.^    ^^^^..^^^     ^>^.J^J_^C^^.    ^ 


^-»-k    c 


•This  letler.  cletailinsr  the  circumstances  leading  up  to  and  attending  the  first  ovariotomy,  was  written  to  Dr.  Robert  J. 
Thompson,  then  a  medical  student  in  Philadelphia,  but  always  a  citizen,  and  until  his  death  in  1SS7,  a  highly  respected  phy- 
sician, of  Woodford  county.  Kentucky,  where  three  of  his  children,  including  Dr.  E.  J.  Thompson,  junior,  still  reside.  It  is 
expected  that  the  original  letter,  handsomely  framed,  will  be  given  an  honored  place  on  the  walls  of  the  State  Historical 
Society,  in  the  Capital  Building  at  Frankfort.  As  will  be  seen,  this  letter  was  written  before  the  days  of  stamps  and  en- 
velopes. 


MEDICAL    PIONEEIW     OF     KENTUCKY. 


21 


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MEDICAL    PIONEEf{S     OF     KENTUCKY,  23 


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KESrrcKY     MEDKAL     JOfRXAL. 


.Toiix  DAViRs  JACKSOX.  :\r.  D. 

Hy  Lewis  S.  .Mc:^IrKTnv,  .M.  I)..  L.L.  D. 

■Tolin  Davios  Jaeksoii  was  born  in  Danville 
on  Dec-ciuber  12,  1834  and  died  in  that  place 
on  December  S,  187o.  not  completing  the 
forty-first  year  of  his  life.  He  was  the  eldest 
child  of  John  and  Margaret  JaeksoU;  both 
natives  of  Kentucky.  He  reeived  his  educa- 
tion at  Centre  College  in  Danville,  from  which 
institution  he  received  the  degree  of  A.  B..  in 
l.So-i.  He  was  an  excellent  student,  and  early 
gave  e\'idence  of  the  power  of  close  appliea- 


ing  disposition,  jiublic  recognition  of  his  abil- 
ity and  qualifications  came  very  slowh' ;  but 
ho  was  never  idle.  He  gave  himself  with  en- 
thusiasm and  close  application  to  the  stud}-  of 
medical  literature.  He  also  began  the  study 
of  the  French  language,  in  which  he  became 
quite  profiiient  and  thei-eby  familiarized  him- 
self with  the  best  medical  literature  of  Eu- 
rope. The  unremitting  labor  of  these  early 
^eai-s  of  practice  laid  the  foundation  of  broad 
scientific  culture  which  distinguished  his 
later  career. 

Dr.  Jackson  had  become  fairlv  establi.shed 


DOCTOR  JOHN   D.  JACKSON 
1S34--187S 


lion.  Immediately  after  his  graduation  he 
entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine,  and  iu 
Ihe  autumn  of  1S54  matriculated  in  th^'  ]Med- 
ical  Department  of  the  University 'of  Louis- 
ville. After  one  course  in  the  University,  he 
went  to  Philadelphia  and  entered  the  iledical 
Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, from  which  he  graduated  with  the  de- 
gree of  .^L  D.,  1857. 

He  returned  immediately  to  his  native  town 
of  Danville  and  entered  the  practice  of  med- 
icine. He  never  ceased  to  be  a  student.  Be- 
ing naturally  of  modest  demeanor  and  r?tir- 


in  practice  when  the  war  between  the  states 
broke  upon  the  country.  He  entered  the  Con- 
federate Army  with  the  rank  of  Surgeon,  and 
was  engaged  in  active  service  iu  the  field 
throughout  the  great  conflict.  He  received 
his  pai'ole  at  Appomattox,  and  returned  to  his 
home  at  Danville  immediately.  At  this  time 
he  found  himself  without  means,  but  with 
abundant  courage  and  faith  in  the  future  he 
opened  his  office  and  resumed  his  professional 
labors.  He  seemed  to  bring  to  his  work  re- 
newed energy  and  determination,  and  soon  his 
time  was  fully  occupied  with  private  prae- 


MEDICAL     PIONEEUS     OF     KENTUCKY. 


25 


lice.  He  gave  himself  wholly  to  his  profes- 
sional work.  He  resumed  the  study  of  the 
l'']"euch  language  and  began  to  collect  a  li- 
brary which  in  time  became  one  of  the  finest 
private  medical  libraries  to  be  found  in  this 
country.  His  collection  was  very  rich  in  old 
copies  of  the  medical  classics,  and  his  tahle 
was  alwaj^s  filled  with  the  very  best  current 
literature  of  the  day. 

Dr.  Jackson  at  this  time  realized  the  great 
importance  of  advanced  clinical  study  and,  in 
order  that  he  might  repair  the  deficiencies  of 
lijs  earlj'  training,  he  iwent  to  New  York  and 
devoted  himself  to  private  courses  upon 
special  branches  in  medicijie.  He  was  especi- 
ally interested  in  surgery-,  and  applied  him- 
self with  enthusiasm  to  the  most  recent  ad- 
vances in  surgical  pathology  and  practice. 
Almost  every  year  from  1869  until  his  death 
he  spent  some  months  in  New  York  in  this 
way.  In  1869  he  contributed  an  article  to 
the  American  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences 
upon  "  Trichiniasis "  which  is  one  of  his  most 
valuable  publications.  This  essay  shows  thor- 
ough familiarity  with  the  literature  upon  this 
subject  in  all  laugxiages.  Very  soon  after  his 
return  from  the  army  he  established  a  private 
dissecting-room  and  began  to  take  pupils  for 
instruction  in  the  elementary  branches  of 
medicine.  He  gave  thorough  courses  in  prac- 
tical anatomy  and  in  surgical  operations  upon 
the  cadaver.  He  made  numerous  contribu- 
tions to  the  medical  literature,  all  of  which 
were  of  practical  character,  and  based  upon 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject.  He  at- 
tended the  annual  meetings  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  was  the  first  vice-president  of  that  body. 
lie  founded  the  Boyle  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, which  became  one  of  the  most  efficient 
organizations  in  the  State,  and  was  a  regu- 
lar attendant  and  contribiitor  to  the  annual 
meetings  of  the  Kentucky  State  Medical  So- 
ciety. 

In  order  to  perfect  his  professional  knowl- 
edge. Dr.  Jackson  went  to  Europe  in  1 872.  He 
attended  the  meeting  of  the  British  Medical 
Association  as  a  delegate  from  the  American 
Medical  Association,  and  spent  much  time  in 
London,  Edinburgh,  Paris,  and  other  Euro- 
jjean  centers.  In  Paris  he  spent  several 
months  in  pursuit  of  special  studies.  He 
made  numerous  acquaintances  among  prom- 
inent teachers  of  Euroi^e,  and  by  correspond- 
ence kept  in  touch  with  members  of  the  pro- 
fession there  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Upon  his  return  home  after  his  visit  to  Eu- 
rope, his  labors  became  more  extensive.  His 
practice  extended  throughout  central  Ken- 
tnekry,  and  his  services  were  commanded  as 
a  consultant  verj^  extensively.  His  growing 
practice,  however,  did  not  prevent  his  de- 
votion to  the  study  of  medical  science,  which 
he    cultivated     with      the      utmost    devotion 


throughout  his  career.  In  1873  he  translated 
Farabeuf's  "Manual  on  the  Ligation  of  Ar- 
teries," which  was  published  by  J.  P.  Lip- 
pincott  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia.  About  the 
same  time  he  wrote  a  biographical  sketch  of 
Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell  (see  page  11)  which 
attracted  renewed  attention  to  the  achieve- 
ments of  this  great  pioneer  surgeon.  The  idea 
of  erecting  a  monument  to  the  memory  of 
McDowell  originated  -with  Dr.  Jackson,  and 
he  pressed  the  subject  upon  the  attention  of 
the  profession  until  it  received  consideration 
by  the  Kentucky  State  iMedical  Society  and 
the  American  Medical  Association.  In  the 
spring  of  1873,  while  engaged  in  an  autopsy 
Dr.  Jackson  infected  one  of  his  fingers,  and 
suffered  mth  a  severe  systemic  infection.  His 
illness  taxed  severely  his  strength,  and  he 
never  fully  recovered.  During  his  convales- 
ence  he  developed  pulmonary  tuberculosis, 
and  after  a  long  illness  succumbed  to  this  dis- 
ease. As  previously  stated  his  death  occurred 
in  December,  1875,  before  the  completion  of 
his  forty-first  year. 

Dr.  Jackson  possessed  superior  talents,  high 
S(;liolarship,  untiring  industry,  and  a  mind 
of  singular  alertness  and  vigor.  He  loved 
science  for  its  owtq  sake,  and  looked  upon  his 
profession  as  a  great  privilege  of  service  and 
dutJ^  His  ideals  were  high,  and  he  lived  up 
to  them  with  incorruptible  honor  and  integ- 
rity of  character.  He  performed  many  of  the 
most  important  operations  in  surgery,  and 
his  contributions  to  surgical  literature  show 
a  profound  knowledge  of  the  subjects  treated 
therein.  As  a  writer  he  was  clear  and  con- 
cise, and  his  language  gave  evidence  of  schol- 
arly attainments.  During  the  last  year  of  his 
activities,  he  was  intensely  interested  in  the 
researches  of  Lister,  which  were  attracting 
great  attention  at  that  time,  and  had  he  lived 
he  would  have  been  one  of  the  first  to  gTasp 
and  apply  in  surgical  practice  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  the  antiseptic  system.  He  was  a 
model  preceptor,  and  inspired  his  pupils  with 
ambition  and  a  thorough  appreciation  of  the 
high  aims  and  purposes  of  the  profession .  He 
v/as  a  delightful  companion,  and  was  devoted- 
ly loved  by  his  personal  friends  and  those  to 
whom  he  administered  as  a  physician  and  sur- 
geon. He  was  one  of  the  most  sincere  and 
steadfast  friends. 

In  personal  appearance  he  was  above  the 
medium  height,  very  erect  and  rather  slen- 
der. He  had  fbie  bluish-gray  eyes,  a  firm  ex- 
pression about  the  mouth  and  a  forehead  indi- 
cative of  intellect.  In  his  habits  he  was  sys- 
tematic, and  in  all  his  engagements  he  was 
promptness  itself. 

Dr.  Jackson  was  unmarried,  his  social  visits 
were  few,  and  his  entire  life  was  devoted  to 
his  profession. 


2G 


KhJXTCCKY     MFDICAL     JOn.'XAL. 


DKDK'ATUliY    ADDKKSS. 


1'kok.   S\M\  F.I,  D.   (truss.   .M 
D.  C.  L.  Oxon. 


I)..   L.L.   1) 


Gentlemen  of  the  Kentucky  State  Medical  So- 
ciety, Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
Nearly  fifty  years  ago  the  citizens  of  Dan- 
ville, then  a  small,  obscure  village,  carried  to 
its  last  resting  place  all  that  was  mortal  of 
the  man  whose  monument  will  henceforth 
mark  an  era  in  the  histoiy  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession, and  of  the  people  of  Kentucky.  The 
announcement  of  his  death,  after  a  In-ief  ill- 
ness, in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  on  the 


Of  those  who  were  present  on  that  melan- 
choly occasion,  one  after  another  has  disap- 
peared. New  generations  have  sprung  up, 
and  a  scene  that  wi-apped  a  whole  community 
i!i  sorrow  and  caused  general  regret  in  the 
American  medical  profession  is.  with  the  most 
01  the  people  of  this  section  of  Kentucky,  a 
mere  tradition.  The  marble  slab  erected  by 
tlie  hand  of  affection  over  the  mortal  remains 
bears  the  simple  but  significant  insr:ription, 
FiFHRAiii  .^McDowell. 

\Vho  was  this  man,  this  Ephraim  McDowell, 
in  honor  of  whose  memory  we  have  assembled 
here  this  evening  ?    Was  he  a  hero  whose  bodv 


THE   MONUMENT 


20th  of  Jiine,  1830,  caused  deep  and  wide- 
spread grief  in  the  community  in  which  he 
had  so  long  lived,  and  of  which  he  had  been 
so  conspicuous,  honored,  and  beloved  a  mem- 
ber. By  none  was  his  loss  more  profoundly 
deplored  than  by  the  poor  of  Danville  and  its 
neighborhood,  who  had  been  so  frequently 
benefited  by  his  skill  and  so  frequently  the 
recipient  of  his  bounty,  ilany  a  tear  was 
shed  as  the  body  was  tenderly  laid  in  the 
earth,  and  many  a  sigh  was  heaved  as  the  re- 
flection came  that  the  mantle  of  such  a  man 
would  be  long  in   finding  worthy  shoulders. 


was  scarred  as  he  was  leading  his  armies  in 
the  defense  of  his  country?  Was  he  a  gi-eat 
magistrate,  meeting  out  justice  to  his  fellow 
citizens,  protecting  their  rights,  and  wisely 
interpreting  their  laws  ?  Was  he  a  legislatoi-, 
devising  means  for  the  development  of  the  re- 
sources of  his  state,  and  the  promotion  of  the 
happiness  of  society  ?  Was  he  a  great  senator, 
like  Clay  or  Crittenden  or  Webster,  expound- 
ing the  constitution  and  convulsing  the 
Amei'ican  people  by  the  power  and  ma.jesty  of 
his  eloquence?  Ephraim  McDowell  was  not 
anv  of  these,  and  vet  he  was  none  the  less  a 


MEDICAL    riONEEHS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


good  and  a  wise  man,  nor  is  lie  any  the  less 
entitled  to  the  world's  gratitude.  Following 
the  noble  vocation  of  a  practitioner  of  the 
healing  art,  liberally  dispensing  alike  to  poor 
and  rich  the  blessings  of  his  knowledge  and 
of  his  skill,  he  silently  pursued  the  eveii  tenor 
of  his  way,,  a  faithful  servant  of  his  profession, 
with  no  ambition  for  meretricious  distinction. 
It  was  here,  on  this  very  spot,  that  he  achieved 
that  renown  which  so  justly  entitles  him  to  be 
ranked  among  the  benefactors  of  his  race.  It 
was  here,  while  engaged  in  the  daily  routine 


Ephraim  McDowell  will  be  regarded  in  all 
time  to  come  as  the  "Father  of  Ovariotomy," 
and  as  one  of  the  master  spirits  of  his  profes- 
sion. We  are  here  this  c^vening  to  place  upon 
his  tomb  a  wreath  of  immortelles,  expressive 
of  our  admiration  and  respect,  and  of  the 
gratitude  of  more  than  two  thousand  women 
rescued  from  an  untimely  grave  by  his  opera- 
tion. That  his  claims  to  this  distinction  are 
well  founded  the  history  of  this  operation 
a])undantly  attests.  For  a  long  time  it  was 
thought  that  other  surgeons  had  anticipated 


DOCTOR  SAMUEL  D.  GROSS 
180S--1884 


of  his  calling,  that  he  performed  an  exploit 
which  no  one  had  ever  achieved  before,  and 
wliich,  although  for  a  long  time  denounced 
and  condemned  by  many  otheiiwise  enlighten- 
ed surgeons  and  practitioners  as  an  outrage- 
ous, if  not  murderous  innovation,  is  now  uni- 
versally admitted  as  one  of  the  established 
procedures  in  surgery ;  an  operation  which,  in 
its  aggregate  results  in  the  hands  of  different 
surgeons,  has  already  added  upwards  of  for- 
ty thousand  years  to  woman's  life,  and  which 
is  destined  as  time  rolls  on,  to  rescue  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  of  human  Ijeings  from 
premature  destruction. 


him  in  this  undertaking,  but  all  the  doubt 
that  had  hung  over  the  subject  was  at  length 
completely  dispelled  in  1852  in  an  address 
which  I  had  the  honor  to  read  before  the  Ken- 
tucky State  Medical  Society  at  its  annual 
meeting  at  Louisville,  entitled  ''A  Report  on 
Kentucky  Surgery."  In  the  prosecution  of 
ray  inquiries  I  became  deeply  interested  in 
the  subject  of  ovariotomy,  and  especially  in 
the  claims  of  McDowell  as  its  originator. 
With  this  end  in  view  I  engaged  in  a  long 
and  laborious  correspondence,  in  which  I  was 
kindlv  assisted  by  Professor  Daniel  Drake, 
Dr.  William  Gait,  and  Dr.  William  A.  Mc- 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOTJENAL. 


Dowel,  a  nephew  and  at  one  time  a  partner  of 
tile  great  surgeon.  Letters  were  addressed  to 
pliysioiaJis  in  different  parts  of  the  State,  and 
also  to  the  surviving  jnembers  of  Dr.  McDow- 
elTs  family,  asking  for  infoimation  respect- 
ing the  nuiii'ber  and  results  of  his  eases,  as 
well  as  the  names  and  residences  of  his  pa 
lients,  and  any  other  intelligence  calculated 
to  throw  liglit  upon  his  life  and  character; 
matters  concerning  which,  tip  to  that  period, 
hardly  anything  definite  was  known.  These 
documents  are  still  in  my  possession,  and  will 
probably  at  no  distant  day  be  given  to  the 
public. 

When  this  investigation  -was  begun  tbe 
origin  of  this  operation  was  generally  ascrib- 
etl  to  a  French  surgeon,  L'Aumonier,  of  Rou- 
en, who,  it  was  contended,  had  performed  it 
in  1776,  when  McDowell  was  hardly  five  years 
old.  Move  recently  the  honor  has  been  claim- 
ed by  our  British  brethren  for  Dr.  Robt.  Hous- 
ton, of  Glasgow,  whose  name  appears  in  con- 
nection with  an  operation  upon  the  ovary  as 
eai'lj'  as  1771.  The  oj)eratiou,  however,  has 
been  fonnd  upon  a  careful  examination  of  the 
history  of  the  case  to  be  entirely  different 
from  that  of  the  Kentucky  surgeon.  The  case 
was  simply  one  of  ovarian  tumor,  the  eon- 
tents  of  which  were  partially  evacuated  by 
an  incision  made  through  the  abdomen,  the 
cyst  itself  being  left  behind. 

These  and  other  pretensions  that  have  been 
set  up  by  different  nationalities  are  wholly 
unsupported  by  facts;  for  a  careful  study  of 
the  cases  which  have  been  reported  by  their 
respective  operators  will  serve  to  convince 
any  unprejudiced  mind  that,  so  far  from  be- 
ing examples  of  ovariotomy,  they  were  sim- 
ply instances  of  cystic  tumors,  similar  to 
those  ali'eady  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  names  of  L'Aumonier  and  Houston.  In- 
deed a  considerable  number  of  such  opera- 
tions were  performed  during  the  last  century, 
chiefly  by  French,  German  and  English  sur- 
geons, or,  as  they  would  now  call  themselves, 
if  living,  gynecologists. 

The  first  actual  case  of  ovariotomy  of 
which  there  is  any  authentic  account  oeeur- 
I'ed  in  this  town  in  December,  1809,  in  the 
hands  of  Ephraim  i[eDowell,  and  to  him  and 
til  him  alone  is  due  the  credit  of  having  de- 
vised and  first  successfully  executed  the  opera- 
tio]i.  All  honor,  then,  we  say,  to  the  man  Avho 
thus  ]iaved  the  way  to  a  new  path  of  human- 
ity, snu;e  so  nobly  trodden  by  his  siiecessors ' 
All  honor  to  the  man  who  had  the  corn-age  and 
skill  to  do  that  which  no  man  had  ever  dared 
to  do  befori' !  All  honor,  too,  to  the  heroic  wo- 
man who,  with  death  literally  staring  her  in 
the  face,  was  the  first  to  submit  calmly  and 
resignedly  to  what  certainly  was  at  the  time 
a  surgical  experiment.  To  her,  too.  let  a 
jiionumeut  be  erected,  not  by  the  Kentucky 
State  ^Medical  Society  or  by  the  citizens  of 


Kentucky,  but  hy  suffering  women  who,  with 
her  example  before  them,  have  been  tlie  re- 
cipients of  the  inestimable  boon  of  ovariotomy, 
with  a  new  lease  of  their  lives  and  with  im- 
munity from  subsequent  discomfort  and  dis- 
tress. J  know  of  no  greater  example  in  all 
history  of  heroism  than  that  displayed  by  this 
noble  woman  in  submitting  to  an  untried 
operation.  McDowell  himself  must  have  been 
siartled,  if  not  al)solutely  abashed,  when  he 
found  how  willing  she  was,  after  he  had  de- 
picted to  her,  in  the  most  glowing  colors  and 
in  the  strongest  and  plainest  language,  the 
risks  of  the  operation.  When  a  surgeon,  how- 
ever experienced  or  skillful,  meets  with,  a  des- 
perate case,  and  finds  that,  after  having  in- 
li.u-med  his  patient  that  if  an  operation  be 
jterform.^d  it  wi!l  be  likely  to  destroy  him,  he 
is  willing  and  ready  to  incur  the  risk,  his 
lieart  often  fails  hhu  and  he  deeply  regrets 
that  the  poor  suft'erer  ever  fell  into  his  hands. 
So  no  doubt  McDowell  felt  upon  this  occasion. 
"Having  never,"  he  said,  "seen  so  large  a 
substance  extracted  nor  heard  of  an  attempt 
or  success  attending  any  operation  such  as 
this  required,  I  gave  the  unhappy  woman  in- 
formation of  her  dangerous  situation.  She 
seemed  mlling  to  undergo  an  experiment, 
which  I  promised  to  perform  if  she  would 
come  to  Danville,  the  to^vn  where  I  live,  a  dis- 
tance of  sixty-  miles."  She  did  come,  and  the 
experiment,  as  jMcDowell  very  properly  calls 
it,  was,  as  already  stated,  performed.  A 
rapid  recovery  ensued,  and  the  patient,  Mrs. 
(_'rawford,  a  Kentucky  lady,  survived  the  op- 
eration thirty-two  3'ears,  enjoying  for  the  most 
part  excellent  health,  and  dying  at  length  in 
the  seveny-ninth  year  of  her  age.  Thus,  it 
will  be  seen,  this  heroic  and  courageous  wo- 
mail  owed  nearly  two-fifths  of  her  life  to  the 
skill  and  care  of  her  surgeon.  Our  admira- 
tion of  this  noble  woman  is  greatly  enhanced 
when  we  reflect  that  the  operation  was  per- 
formed without  the  aid  of  anesthetics,  wliich 
were  not  introduced  into  practice  until  a  third 
of  a  century  afterward,  as  is  our  admiration 
of  the  surgeon  when  we  recall  the  fact  that  he 
had  no  trained  assistants  to  aid  him  in  his 
work,  executed  despite  the  most  strenuous  and 
persistent  efforts  to  persuade  him  from  under- 
taking it.  J. :  i.! 
It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  no  ac- 
count of  this  operation  was  published  until 
eight  years  after  it  was  performed.  Whether 
this  was  due  to  inherent  modest^^  on  the  part 
of  ]\IcDowell,  to  indifference  to  fame,  to  sheer 
apathy,  to  an  aversion  to  -svi-iting,  or  to  fear 
of  "ritieism,  1o  which  such  an  undertaking, 
witlioitt  a  precedent  in  the  annals  of  surgery, 
would  necessarily  expose  him,  it  would  be 
idle  to  conjecture.  It  is  sufficient  for  my  pur- 
l>ose  to  know  that  the  first  notice  of  it  appear- 
ed in  1817.  in  the  F'hiladelphia  Eclectic  Ee- 
pcrtori)  and  Analytical   Review.      The    com- 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY. 


29 


nmiiicatioi].  which  covered  not  quite  three  oc 
ti:ivo  pages  of  printed  matter,  was  entitled 
"Three  Cases  of  Extirpation  of  Diseased 
Ovaria,"  and  was  drawn  up  so  loosely  and 
carelessly  as  to  be  well  calculated  to  elicit  ad- 
verse criticism,  as  indeed  it  speedily  did  both 
at  liome  and  abroad  in  a  way  not  at  all  calcu- 
lated to  reflect  credit  upon  the  author  as  a  lit- 
erary and  scientific  man.  The  details  of  the 
cases  were  singularly  meagre ;  there  was  noth- 
ing said  respecting  their  origin,  progress,  or 
diagnosis,  and  even  the  operations  themselves 
were  very  imperfectly  described.  If  such 
operations  had  been  performed  in  our  day  the 
most  minute  circumstances  would  have  speed- 
ily found  their  way  into  print.  The  fact  is 
McDowell  possessed  no  facility  as  a  writer, 
and  he  lacked  that  grace  of  diction  and  power 
of  expression  so  well  adapted  to  impart  inter- 
est even  to  the  driest  details,  and  which  can 
be  acqiiired  only  by  long  practee.  In  a  word, 
he  was  a  stranger  to  the  pen  and  had  no  fancy 
;.'o!-  :ts  use.  Writing  was  a  great  bore  to  him. 
a  compulsory  necessity.  The  report  of  his 
cases  soon  after  its  publication  was  severely 
criticised,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  thro^v 
discredit  upon  his  statements,  or,  in  other 
terms,  to  impugn  his  veracity.  Had  McDow- 
ell lived  in  our  da.y,  when  intelligence  flashes 
with  lightning  speed,  not  only  from  one  sec- 
tion of  the  country  to  another  but  from  con- 
tinent to  continent,  such  an  occurrence  would 
not  have  been  possible. 

Dr.  James  Johnson,  the  very  able  and  learn- 
ed editor  of  the  London  Medico-Chirurgical 
Beview,  a  journal  widely  circulated  both  in 
Great  Britain  and  in  the  United  States,  was 
especially  savage  and  satirical.  He  could  not 
imagine  it  to  be  possible  that  an  American 
surgeon,  living  in  a  small,  obscm-e  village  in 
the  wilds  of  Kentucky^  or  in  the  backwoods  of 
America,  as  he  expressed  it,  could  perform 
such  an  operation,  or  become  a  pioneer  in  a 
new  branch  of  surgery.  In  commenting  up- 
on McDowell's  first  ease,  especially  upon  the 
wonderfully  rapid  recovery  of  the  patient,  he 
exclaims,  apparently  in  holy  horror  and  with 
uplifted  hands,  "C  red  at  Judoeus,  non  ego." 
In  a  subsecinent  article,  published  in  1827, 
Johnson  again  calls  attention  to  McDowell's 
cases,  adding  that  of  five  cases  reported  four 
had  recovered  and  only  one  had  died. 
"There  were  circumstances,"  remarks  this 
Cerberus,  "in  the  narratives  of  some  of  the 
first  cases  that  raised  misgivings  in  our  minds, 
for  which  ^mcharitableness  we  ask  pardon  of 
God,  and  of  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowel],  of  Dan- 
ville." It  is  presumable  that  this  fr.ank  and 
manly  recantation  on  the  part  of  a  man  who 
occupied  so  elevated  and  influential  a  posi- 
tion as  the  editorship  of  the  most  widely  read 
medical  .journal  in  the  world  had  some  effect 
in  controlling  professional  sentiment  and  in- 
spiring confidence   in   the    declarations    of   a 


surgeon  whom  he  had  only  a  few  years  before 
denounced  as  a  backwoods  operator  unworthy 
of  credence.  Nevertheless  Dr.  McDowell  had 
for  a  long  time  no  imitators.  Among  those 
who,  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  had  the  cour- 
age to  follow  in  his  footsteps,  were  Nathan 
Smith,  of  New  Haven,  in  1821,  Alban  G. 
Smith,  a  partner  of  McDowell,  in  1823,  and 
Dr.  David  L.  Rogers,  of  New  York,  in  1829. 
All  of  the  cases  terminated  favoraibly.  Mc- 
Dowell himself,  as  clearly  as  I  could  determ- 
ine in  preparing  my  report  on  Kentucky 
Surgery,  operated  altogether  thirteen  times, 
with  the  result  of  eight  cures,  four  deaths,  and 
one  failure,  due  to  an  inability  to  complete  the 
operation  on  account  of  extensive  adhesions  of 
the  tumor ;  a  degree  of  success  which,  consid- 
ering the  fact  that  he  had  no  precepts  exicept 
his  own  experience  to  gniide  him,  was  emin- 
ently creditable  to  his  judgment,  care,  and 
skill,  and  which,  although  exceeded  in  recent 
times,  was  for  a  third  of  a  century  pretty 
much  the  average  in  the  hands  of  his  follow- 
ers, both  in  America  and  in  Europe.  If  we 
go  to  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  we  shall 
find  that  the  first  attempt  at  ovariotomy  in 
Great  Britain  occurred  in  the  practice  of  Mr. 
John  Lizars,  of  Edinburgh.  This  gentleman 
in  1825  published  a  beautiful  monograph 
upon  the  subject,  in  wliich  he  gave  a  detailed 
account  of  four  cases,  Avith  two  recoveries, 
one  death,  and  one  an  utter  and  disgraceful 
failure,  due  lo  an  erroneous  diagnosis,  both 
OA'aries  being  perfectly  sound.  Mr.  Lizars, 
who  was  a  surgeon  of  considerable  note  in  his 
■day,  was  led  to  turn  his  attention  to  this  sub- 
jtict  from  having  read  an  account  of  McDow- 
ell's operations,  which  had  accidentally  fallen 
into  his  hands  during  the  absence  of  Mr.  John 
Bell,  McDowell 's  old  preceptor,  upon  the 
continent,  from  which  he  never  returned.  The 
brochure  here  referred  to  was,  there  is  reason 
to  believe,  of  great  service  in  calling  to  the 
subject  the  attention  of  European  surgeons 
generally,  the  more  especially  as  it  embraced 
a  full  report  of  the  Kentucky  cases,  which, 
np  to  that  period,  had  lain,  as  it  were,  in  a 
slate  of  dormancy.  Nothing,  however,  of' any 
moment  was  done  anj'-vvhere,  either  at  home  or 
abroad,  until  1842,  when  ovariotomy  received 
a  new  impulse  at  the  hands  of  Dr.  Charles 
Clay,  of  Manchester,  England,  followed  short- 
ly after  by  Dr.  Frederick  Bird,  of  London, 
and  the  two  brothers  Altee,  John  and  Wash- 
ington, of  Pennsylvania,  the  first  case  of  the 
former  having  occurred  in  IS43  and  that  of 
the  latter  in  1844.  To  these  gentlemen  is  un- 
questionably due  the  great  merit  of  reviving 
the  operation  and  of  placing  it  upon  a  firm, 
and  immutable  basis  as  one  of  the  established 
procedures  in  surgery.  Their  attempts  to  gen- 
eralize the  operation  met  every  where  with 
great  opposition  and  even  obloquy.  Dr.  Clay, 
who  introduced  it  into  England,  in  referring 


?.o 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOURNAL. 


to  the  subject  states  that  he  had  to  wade 
tlirough  much  vexatious  opposition,  great  mis- 
appreheusioiis,  and  gross  misunderstandings; 
and  the  experience  of  Dr.  Washington  L.  At- 
iee  was  still  more  trying  and  annoying.  In  an 
address  which  he  delivered  in  1S72  before  the 
I'hihulelphia  County  iledical  Society,  enti- 
tled "A  Retrospect  of  the  Struggles  and  Tri- 
umphs of  Ovariotomy  in  Philadelphia,"  he 
depicts  in  glowing  language  the  obstacles 
which  this  operation  had  to  encounter  in  this 
country  and  in  his  own  city.  "Ovariotomy." 
he  exclaims,  "was  every  where  derided.  It 
was  denounced  by  the  general  profession,  in 
the  medical  societies,  in  all  the  medical  col- 
leges, and  even  by  the  majority  of  my  own  col- 
leag"ues.  I  was  misrepresented  before  the 
medical  public,  and  was  pointed  at  as  a  dan 
gerous  man,  and  even  as  a  murderer.  The  op- 
position went  so  far  that  a  celebrated  pro- 
fessor, a  popular  teacher  and  captivating 
writer,  in  his  public  lectures,  invoked  the  law 
to  arrest  me  in  the  performance  of  this  opera- 
tion."  This  rancorous  opposition,  however, 
founded  as  it  was  upon  ignorance  and  preju- 
dice, gradually  wore  away,  and  the  men  who 
^^•ere  most  clamorous  in  keeping  it  up  either 
disappeared  fi-om  the  active  scenes  of  life,  or 
yielded  gi-acefuUy  to  the  light  of  reason  and 
experience.  Dr.  Clay,  writing  in  1874,  states 
that  he  had  operated  upon  two  hundred  and 
seventy-six  cases,  while  those  of  Dr.  Atlee,  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  less  than  a  year  ago, 
a.niounted  to  three  hundred  and  eighty-seven. 
Mr.  T.  Spencer  Wells,  of  London,  whose  bril- 
liant career  as  a  ovariotomist  began  in  185S, 
wrote  to  me  on  the  29th  of  April,  1879,  that 
he  had  just  had  his  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
eighth  case.  JMr.  Thomas  Keith,  of  Edin- 
burgh, whose  career  in  this  field  of  surgery  is 
also  wonderfully  brilliant,  informs  me,  in  a 
letter  written  a  short  time  previously  to  that 
01  his  English  confrere,  that  he  had  operated, 
up  to  that  date,  two  hundred  and  eight j'-f our 
times.  Dr.  John  L.  Atlee  has  operated  fifty- 
seven  times;  Dr.  Alexander  Dunlap,  of  Ohio, 
one  hundred  and  forty-three  times;  Edmund 
K.  Peaslee,  seventy-seven  times;  Professor  T. 
Caillard  Thomas,  one  hundi-ed  and  twenty- 
six  times,  and  Dr.  Oilman  Kimball,  the  oldest 
and  most  renowned  American  ovariotomist 
since  the  death  of  Dr.  Wasliingtou  L.  ATlee, 
two  hundred  and  forty  times.  Professor 
iJriggs,  of  Nashville,  who  has  operated  up- 
ward of  fifty  times,  recently  bad  three  eases 
of  ovariotomy  on  the  same  day.  the  patients 
living  within  a  short  distance  of  each  other. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  with  regard  to  the 
history  of  ovariotomy  in  this  country  that  Dr. 
John  L.  Atlee 's  first  operation,  performed  in 
1S43,  was  also  the  first  operation  in  which 
both  ovaries  were  removed.  In  the  report  of 
this  remarkable  case,  an  unusually  elaborate 
one,  in  the  Amei-ican  Journal  of  the  Medical 


Science,  for  January,  1844,  after  instituting 
a  comparison  between  this  and  other  capital 
operations.  Dr.  Atlee  makes  a  strong  appeal 
in  favor  of  ovariotomy.  "Let  this  opera- 
tion," he  says,  "but  be  placed  upon  its  legiti- 
mate basis,  and  let  it  receive  that  attention 
from  the  profession  Avhich  has  been  devoted 
to  other  departments  of  surgery,  and  we  shall 
soon  arrive  at  such  a  knowledge  of  the  proper 
time  and  manner  of  operating,  and  before 
those  complications  exist  which  render  it  im- 
practicable, as  \\'ill  be  the  means  of  saving 
many  unfortunate  and  hopeless  victims." 
When  this  operation  was  performed  Dr.  Atlee 
\\-as  not  aware  of  the  cases  that  had  occxirred 
in  England  in  the  practice  of  Dr.  Clay  and 
llr.  Walne,  and  he  informs  me  that  he  would 
never  have  performed  it  if  he  had  not  studied 
with  great  care  the  report  of  McDowell's 
Ci:ses.  The  success  of  his  operation,  one  of  the 
most  brilliant  on  record,  induced  him  and  his 
brother  to  repeat  it  on  the  first  favorable  op- 
X>ortunity,  despite  the  opposition  and  clamor 
of  their  professional  brethren.  Up  to  1850 
onl.v  eighteen  American  surgeons,  including 
the  originator,  had  perfonued  this  opera- 
tion. In  1 855  it  received  a  new  impulse  from 
the  publication  of  Dr.  Washing-ton  L.  Atlee 's 
first  thirty-five  eases,  and  in  the  following 
year  appeared  the  admirable  prize  essay  of 
Dr.  George  H.  Lyman,  of  Boston,  entitled 
"The  History  and  Statistics  of  Ovariotomy;" 
embracing  a  summary  of  three  hundred  cases, 
being  all  that  there  were  then  known  as  hav- 
ing occurred  in  diiferent  parts  of  the  world. 
On  the  continent  of  Europe  ovariotomy  made, 
until  recently,  very  slow  progress,  although 
f'hrysmar,  of  Germany,  had  performed  it 
three  times  before  the  close  of  1820,  and  con- 
sequently several  years  before  it  was  attempt- 
ed by  Lizars.  of  Edinburgh.  In  France  it  was 
performed  for  the  first  time  in  1847.  In  these 
countries,  as  in  the  United  States  and  Great 
JViitain,  it  was  long  denounced  as  an  unsafe 
and  improper  operation,  and  that  this  should 
have  been  the  case  is  not  surprising  when  we 
consider  the  enormous  mortality  which  at- 
tended it,  even  in  the-  hands  of  many  of  the 
most  accomplished  siu'geons.  The  resiilts  of 
late  years,  however,  have  been  more  encoin-ag- 
ing,  and  have  been  particularly  flattering  in 
tJie  hands  of  Koeberle.  of  Strasbourg.  Shroe- 
der.  of  Berlm,  and  Skoeldberg,  of  Sweden, 
not  to  mention  others.  Ovariotomy  is  no  lon- 
ger on  trial ;  it  has  successfully  passed  that 
ordeal,  and  is  now  performed  in  every  coiin- 
try  of  the  earth  where  civilization  has  carried 
the  blessings  of  scientific  medicine. 

The  frequency  of  ovarian  diseases  is  appall- 
ing: far  greater,  indeed  than  it  is  generally 
supposed  to  be.  One  surgeon  alone,  Dr. 
Clay,  of  England,  declares  that  he  had  exam- 
ined within  a  single  decade  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  cases !    Who,  in  view  of  these  occur- 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKT. 


31 


reiices,  will  deny  the  blessings  of  ovariotomy, 
especially  when  we  take  into  consideration  the 
fact  that  few  women  lahoring  under  analadies 
ot  this  kind  live  longer  than  about  four  years, 
unless  relieved  by  surgical  interference? 

The  mortality  of  this  operation  is  worthy 
of  brief  notice  in  connection  with  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell's name  and  fame.  His  owu  cases — 
thirteen  in  number,  with  eight  cures,  forir 
deaths,  and  one  failure  to  complete  the  opera- 
tion on  account  of  extensive  adhesions,  sho'w 
an  astonishing  degree  of  success  when  we  rec- 
ollect all  the  circumstances  attending  them, 
especially  the  operator's  own  inexperience, 
and  the  absence  of  any  rules  to  giiide  him  in 
his  undertakings.  For  a  number  of  years  af- 
ter I\fcDoweirs  death  the  mortality  in  the 
hands  of  diiferent  surgeons  exhibited  but  lit- 
tle improvement  Tipon  that  in  his  own  prac- 
tice. Thus,  of  one  thousand  four  hundred 
and  eight  cases  collected  by  me  in  1871.  from 
various  sources,  native  and  foreign,  four  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  died,  affording  a  mortality  of 
t^venty-iour  per  cent.,  or  one  death  in  every 
three  and  two  fifth  cases.  That  the  results  of 
the  operation  are  materially  influenced  by  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  performed,  and  by  the 
previous  and  subsequent  treatment,  is  a  fact 
long  since  fully  established.  Thus,  if  we  take 
the  statistics  of  one  hundred  cases  in  the  hands 
of  so  many  different  surgeons,  men  who  have 
no  experience  in  such  cases  and  who  follow 
the  ordinary  method  of  operating,  the  mortal- 
ity will  be  found  to  be  enormous,  just  as  it 
would  be  likely  to  be  under  similar  circum- 
stances in  any  other  grave  operation,  as  litho- 
tomy, the  larger  amputations,  trephining  of 
the  skull,  and  the  liaration  of  the  larger  ar- 
teries. No  one  will  deny  that  experience  is  a 
■most  important  factor  in  saving  or  destroy- 
ing life  in  all  the  more  serious,  severe,  or  cap- 
ital operations.  The  results  of  ovariotomy  in 
the  hands  of  professed  or  skilled  ovari- 
otomists.  men  who  make  a  specialty  of  abdom- 
inal surgery,  are  among  the  greatest  triumnbs 
of  our  art,  entitling  them  to  be  ranked  among 
the  noblest  benefactors  of  the  present  day,  or 
indeed  of  anv  dav.  The  cases  of  "Washinston 
I,  Atlee,  Charles  Clay,  t.  Spencer  Wells, 
Thomas  Keith.  Gilman  Kimball.  Alexander 
Dunlap.  T.  Gaillard  Thomas,  and  others,  are 
counted,  not  bv  tens  or  twenties  or  thirties, 
but  bv  hundreds.  It  is  this  enormous  multi- 
plication of  cases  that  makes  th^se  men  such 
experts  and  that  gives  them  such  superiority 
over  those  whose  practice  is  comparatively 
limited.  One  of  the  most  .ofratifying  circum- 
stances connected  with  this  operation  is  the 
gradually  decreasing  mortality,  even  in  the 
hands  of  the  most  successful  surgeons.  This 
is  strikinglv  shown,  to  eo  no  farther,  by  the 
statistics  of  Dr.  Clay,  of  Manchester,  who,  as 
previously  stated,  introduced  ovariotomy  in 
England,    On  the  first  twenty  cases  the  death- 


rate  was  one  in  two  and  one  half:  of  the  sec- 
ond twenty,  one  in  three  and  one-third ;  and 
of  the  last  thirty-one,  one  in  four.  In  Mr. 
Wells's  cases  the  same  gratifying  results  are 
apparent,  and  so  also  is  those  of  Mr.  Keith,  of 
I'ldinbiirgh.  Who  will  dare  to  assert  that 
tliese  triumphs  are  not  due  to  superior  skill  in 
operating,  and  to  increased  care  and  experi- 
ence, and  not  to  the  selection  of  the  cases,  al- 
though this  will  doubtless,  now  that  the  diag- 
nosis between  innocent  and  benign  ovarian 
diseases  is  so  well  established,  have  its  in- 
fluence 1 

The  attention  bestowed  upon  the  after- 
treatment  must  necessarily  exert  a  powerful 
influence  upon  the  patient's  fate.  All  the  pro- 
fessed ovai'iotomists  employ  trained  and  ex- 
perienced nurses  and  personally  superintend 
their  cases  from  first  to  last.  Mr.  Keith,  in 
referring  to  this  subject,  says.  "No  one  knows 
the  anxiety  that  ovariotomy  has  given  me, 
nor  the  time  and  thought  and  care  I  have  be- 
stowed on  the  patients."  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  chances  of  recovery  after  the 
oiieration  are  greater  when  the  patient  is 
treated  in  a  private  hospital,  situated  upon 
airy  ground,  and  provided  with  all  the  means 
and  appliances  which  such  an  institution 
ought  to  possess.  This  fact  has  been  striking- 
ly exemplified  in  the  practice  of  Mr.  Keith 
and  also  in  that  of  Mr.  Wells  while  he  was  in 
charge  of  the  Samaritan  Hospital.  London. 

Leaving  out  of  the  question  the  results  of  less 
experienced  ovariotomists,  iwhat  can  be  more 
wonderful  than  the  results  of  Mr.  Keith's 
eases,  two  hundred  and  eighty-four,  with  a 
mortality  of  only  thii'ty-five,  or  one  death  in 
about  eight  operations.  Of  the  last  158  cases 
only  twelve  succumbed,  of  the  last  seventy- 
seven-  only  thii'teen,  and  of  the  last  forty-nine 
not  one,  thus  verifying  his  assertion  that 
■'this  long-despised  operation  is  now  the  saf- 
est of  all  the  great  surgical  operations,  at  least 
judging  from  these  re.sults. "  The  .statistics 
of  the  operations  of  Mr.  Wells  are  equally 
astonishing.  Both  these  surgeons  are  now 
making  constant  use  of  antiseptics,  notwith- 
standing thev  obtained  most  brilliant  results 
from  the  ordinary  treatment,  conducted  with 
that  care  which  their  increasing  experience 
had  taught  them  to  employ.  Mr.  Keith  does 
not  hesitate  to  ascribe  much  of  his  wonderful 
snccess  in  his  late  cases  to  the  efficacy  of  anti- 
septics. IMr.  Wells,  in  the  letter  previously 
I'cf erred  to.  says  -.  "1  began  the  year  1 878  with 
the  eisfht  hundred  and  eisrhtv-eishth  case,  bv 
adopting  the  antiseptic  system  of  Lister,  and 
have  kept  it  up  ever  since,  the  result  of  forty- 
five  cases  being  forty  recoveries  and  five 
deaths.  The  recoveries  have  taken  place,  as  a 
j'lde,  without  fever."  "I  believe,"  he  adds, 
"that  the  antiseptic  system  will  certainly  re- 
duce mortality  and  expedite  convalescence." 
Of  the  thirty-eight  cases  of  the  ninth  hundred, 


32 


KEXTVCKY     MEDJCAL     JOrRXAL. 


the  number  operated  upon  by  Mr.  Wells  up 
to  April  29.  five,  he  informs  me.  have  died, 
and  thirty-three  are  well  or  convalescing.  Of 
Mr.  Clay's  two  hundred  and  seventy-six  eases 
two  hundred  recovered  and  seventy-six  died. 
Koeberle,  during  the  last  four  years,  operated 
one  Inmdred  times  with  eleven  deaths. 

The  mortality  in  Dr.  AYashington  L.  Atlee's 
three  hundi'ed  and  eighty-seven  cases  was,  as 
I  am  informed  l)y  his  son-in-law.  Dr.  Thomas 
"M.  Drysdale,  about  thirty  per  cent.,  which, 
considering  that  he  did  not  select  his  cases, 
and  frefjuently  had  no  opportunity  of  super- 
intending the  after-treatment,  always  a  mat- 
ter of  great  moment  in  every  severe  operation. 
may  be  regarded  as  a  fair  average.  Dr.  Johu 
L.  Atlee's  fifty-seven  cases  show  forty  recov- 
eries and  twelve  deaths,  witli  five  failures  to 
complete  the  operation  on  account  of  extens- 
ive adhesions.  Of  Dr.  Duulap's  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-three  patients  one  hundred  and 
twelve  recovered  and  thirty-one  died.  Of 
Dr.  Peaslee's  seventy -seven  operations  the  re- 
sidls  of  twenty-eight  only  are  positively 
known,  and  of  these  nineteen  recovered  and 
]iine  perished.  -T.  Taylor  Bradford  had  thirty 
cases  with  three  deaths.  Professor  T.  Gail- 
lard  Thomas's  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
show  ninety-six  recoveries  and  thirty-three 
deaths.  The  mortalitv  of  Dr.  Kimball's 
cases  is  in  tlie  ratio  of  one  to  four :  of  his  last 
twenty-four  cases  twenty-one  have  recovered 
and  three  have  died. 

It  would  be  foreign  to  my  purpose,  in  an 
address  like  this,  and  especially  before  such 
an  audience,  to  speak  of  the  causes  which 
mainly  influence  the  results  of  this  operation: 
but  there  is  one  circumstance  to  which  I  can 
not  forbear  alluding.  T  refer  to  the  import- 
ance of  establishing  in  every  ease,  before  an 
operation  is  attempted,  a  correct  diagnosis. 
Fortunately  this  can  now  be  done,  with  proper 
care,  almost  in  every  instance,  and  with  the 
aid  of  the  microscope.  Dr.  Thomas  ^M.  Drys- 
dale, availing  himself  of  the  great  opportun 
ities  afforded  by  ^Ir.  Atlee's  operations,  has. 
after  numerous  examinations,  satisfied  him 
self  of  the  existence,  in  all  innocent  forms  of 
ovarian  cysts,  of  what  he  calls  the  ""  ovarian 
gi'annle  cells."  These  cells,  which  are  very 
small  and  of  a  roiinded  or  oval  shape,  are 
largely  supplied  with  nuclei  and  nucleoli, 
and.  as  they  are  not  present  in  any  other  af- 
fections or  in  di-opsical  fluids,  they  may  be 
regarded  as  characteristic.  More  recently  Dr. 
Toulis.  of  Edinburgh,  and  Dr.  iCnowsley 
Thornton,  of  London,  have  ascertained  that 
malignant  ovarian  tumors  can  be  distinguish- 
ed from  benign  ovarian  growths  by  the  pres- 
ence of  groups  of  large,  pear-shaped,  i-onnd. 
or  oval  cells,  occupied  by  granular  material 
with  nuclei,  nucleoli,  vacuoles,  or  transparent 
globules.  The  value  of  these  researches,  in 
which  Dr.  Drysdale  has  taken  the  lead,  can 


not,  in  a  diagnostic  point  of  view,  be  over- 
estimated, for  they  clearly  indicate  the  neces- 
sity, in  eveiy  case  of  doubt,  of  making  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  contents  of  these 
classes  of  tumors  before  finally  deciding  up- 
on the  propriety  of  using  the  knife. 

The  brilliant  success  which  h-as  attended 
ovariotomy  both  in  America  and  in  Europe 
has  led  to  an  extension  of  the  whole  domain  of 
rbdominal  surgery,  and  has  emboldened  op- 
erator to  invade  other  regions  of  the  body  lua- 
til  recently  regarded  as  too  sacred  to  be  med- 
dled with.  Indeed,  there  would  seem  to  be 
hardly  any  longer  any  forbidden  territoiy! 
The  uterus,  the  spleen,  and  the  kidneys  have 
of  late  years  been  the  coveted  objects  of  the 
surgeon's  cupidity.  Very  lately  the  gall- 
lihidder  has  not  only  been  aspirated  for  the 
piirpose  of  relieving  it  of  distending  fluids, 
liut  actually,  in  several  instances,  extirpated. 
IMany  years  ago,  dui-ing  ray  residence  in  Ken- 
tucky-, I  received  a  telegram  from  a  distin- 
guished surgeon  of  Columbu-S,  Ohio,  sajnng  he 
liad  just  excised  the  liver,  and  that  as  his 
patient  was  progressing  favorably  he  indrdg- 
ed  great  hope  of  her  recovery.  The  woman, 
however,  died  the  next  morning,  when  it  was 
di.seovered  that,  instead  of  the  liver,  only  an 
ovary  had  been  removed,  thus  depi'iving  my 
friend  of  the  glory  of  being  a  pioneer  in 
hepatic  surgery  I  Within  the  last  ten  years 
a  number  of  cases  of  excision  of  the  larjTix 
have  been  reported,  including,  in  some  in- 
stances, portions  of  the  tongue  and  of  the 
esophagus,  and  yet  despite  the  mutilation 
some  of  the  siu'vivors,  with  the  aid  of  an 
artificial  substitute,  articulate  nearly  as  well, 
it  would  seem,  as  before  the  operation.  The 
entire  tongue,  too,  has  on  a  number  of  oc- 
casions, perhaps  in  not  less  than  forty  oi- 
fifty  eases,  been  extirpated  with,  as  is  alleged, 
very  little  impairment  of  the  patient's  voice 
or  power  of  speech.  With  such  inroads,  such 
innovations,  on  the  part  of  siu-geiy,  we  need 
not  be  surprised  if,  on  waking  some  morning, 
we  should  find  tjie  papers  filled  with  accounts 
of  the  snccessful  amputation  of  the  head  with- 
out anv  serious  detriment  to  the  patient's 
me]ital  faculties,  despite  the  assertion  of 
^bms.  Blandin,  a  French  surgeon,  that  this 
j'ortion  of  the  body,  wliieh  he  iiivariably 
designates  as  the  encephalic  extremity,  "can 
not  be  removed  during  life  without  stopping 
respiration  and  causing  other  inconveniences 
which,  unhappily,  render  the  operation  inad 
missiblel"  This  language,  however,  it  must 
not  be  forgotten,  was  uttered  fiftv  years  ago, 
when  surgery  was  in  a  comparatively  crude 
<>ondition,  and  is  therefore  hardly  applicable 
at  the  present  day.  But  pleasantry  aside,  as 
p.<»rhaps  iinbecoming  the  occasion,  while  I 
have  always  been  a  friend  to  progress  it  is 
evident  that  there  must  be  limits  to  the  use  of 
the  knife.     What  the  fate  of  some  of  these 


MEDICAL     PIONEEKS     OF    KENTUCKY. 


33 


operations  may  be.  whether  any  or  all  of  them 
will  be  ultimately  admitted  into  the  domain  of 
legitimate  surgery,  must  for  the  present  re- 
main an  open  question.  We  are  no  more  jus- 
tified now  in  condemning  what  may  seem  to  us 
to  be  an  improper  operation  than  physicians 
were  in  the  days  of  McDowell  in  condemning 
ovariotomy.  Expei'ienee  alone  can  determine 
how  far  the  knife  shall  go  or  shall  not  go. 

What  has  been  called,  perhaps  oddly 
enough,  normal  ovariotomy,  an  operation 
first  performed  by  Dr.  Robert  Battey,  of 
Georgia,  may  be  regarded  as  a  natural  out- 
growth of  McDowell's  operation,  or  ordinary 
ovariotomy,  rendered  necessary,  as  is  alleged, 
on  account  of  organic  or  fiuactional  disorder 
of  the  ovaries,  incurable  by  ordinary  treat- 
men.  The  results  obtained  thus  far  are  not  very 
satisfactory,  and  it  is  evident  that  further 
light  is  required  before  we  can  determine  its 
real  merits.  Different  methods  of  reaching 
the  faulty  structures  have  been  suggested,  but 
there  is  not  one  that  is  wholly  free  from  dan- 
ger, while  that  originally  practiced  by  the 
courageous  and  ingenious  inventor  does  not 
always  afford  sufficient  space  for  the  purpose. 

The  statistics  of  this  oi^eration  published  in 
1878  by  Dr.  George  J.  Engiemann,  of  St. 
Louis,  embracing  forty-three  cases,  show  that 
the  risk  is  very  considerably  greater  than  in 
ordinary  ovariotomy,  fourteen  of  the  eases 
terminating  fatally,  while  of  the  twenty-nine 
surviving  patients  nine  only,  or  thirty-one 
per  cent,  were  cured,  and  eleven  were  more  or 
less  improved.  Many  of  the  operations  were 
not  completed  on  account  of  the  impossibility 
of  extracting  the  entire  ovary. 

Dr.  Battey,  as  he  informed  me  only  a  few 
days  ago.  has  performed  this  operation  fifteen 
times  with  two  deaths  and  thirteen  recoveries. 
Of  these  thirteen  cases  foiir  were  promptly 
and  entirely  cured,  nine  were  benefitted,  and 
of  those  not  completely  relieved  every  one  had 
made  notable  progress  during  the  last  twelve 
months. 

In  delineating  the  character  of  McDowell 
the  question  naturally  arises,  how  was  he  led 
to  perform,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of 
surgery,  so  dangerous  an  operation?  Was  it 
his  superior  knowledge  of  abdominal  and 
pelvic  diseases,  or  had  he  made  a  special 
study  of  them,  and  thus  qualified  himself 
above  all  other  men  to  become  a  pioneer  in  a 
branch  of  surgery  whose  territory  had  never 
before  been  invaded  by  the  knife?  Or  was  it 
his  superior  sagacity  or  his  more  profound 
penetration  which  led  him  to  iindertake  it? 
finally,  had  the  lessons  which  as  a  student  he 
imbibed  in  the  lecture-room  during  his  so- 
journ at  Edinburgh  any  agency  in  the  matter  ? 
It  must  not  be  forgotten,  in  discussing  this 
subject,  that  long  before  McDowell  launched 
into  this  then  unexplored  field  of  surgery  a 
niunber  of  distinguished  physicians,  in  view 


of  the  hopeless  character  of  ovarian  diseases, 
suggested  their  removal  through  an  opening 
in  the  wall  of  the  abdomen.  Among  others 
•who  seriously  thought  of  the  matter  may  be 
mentio]ied  more  especially  the  names  of 
.Schlenker,  Willius,  Preger,  Chambon,  and  the 
celebrated  William  Hunter,  the  foremost  ob- 
stetrician of  his  day  in  Great  Britain.  None 
of  these  men,  however,  had  the  courage  to  un- 
dertake such  an  operation.  Prior  to  Mc- 
Dowell no  surgeon  had  been  so  bold  as  to  do 
more  than  to  open  occasionally  an  ovarian  cyst 
and  to  let  out  its  contents.  No  one  dared  to 
I'emove  an  ovarian  tu.mor  of  any  kind  bodily. 
In  reflecting  ripon  this  subject  I  have  always 
thought  that  the  in.struction  which  IFcDowell 
had  received  while  attending  the  lectures  of 
the  celebrated  Mr.  John  Bell,  of  Edinburgh, 
had  mainly  paved  the  way  to  this  undertak- 
ing. It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  young 
Kentuckian  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  lec- 
tures of  this  great  surgeon,  who  was  a  man 
of  .splendid  genius,  of  high  intellectual  en- 
dowments, an  eloquent  teacher,  and  a  bold, 
dashing  operator,  then  in  the  zenith  of  his  re- 
nown. We  may  well  imagine  with  what 
pathos  such  a  man,  a  man  of  the  most  ardent 
temperament  and  a  most  accomplished  scholar, 
^vould  describe  abdominal  surgery,  and  with 
wiiat  force  and  emphasis  he  would  dwell  upon 
the  hopeless  character  of  ovarian  tumors.  No 
7nan  perhaps  ever  taught  surgery  to  more  ad- 
miring piipijs,  or  jnore  completely  fascinated 
tliem  by  the  power  of  his  eloquence.  There 
was,  moreover,from  all  accounts  a  wonderful 
magnetism  about  John  Bell,  which  drew  to 
him,  as  with  an  irresistible  charm,  every  one 
who  came  Avithin  his  presence.  Listening  to 
the  lectures  of  such  an  enthusiast,  a  kind  of 
Tom  Marshal]  in  his  way,  it  is  not  probable 
tliat  the  young  American  sat  listlessly  with 
closed  eyes  and  ears  upon  the  hard  bench  of 
the  amphitheater.  On  the  contrary  his  atten- 
tion was  all  agog.  We  can  see  him  even  now, 
as  it  were,  -with  open  mouth  and  protruding 
head,  with  his  chin  resting  upon  his  hands, 
eagerly  drinking  in  eveiw  word  .is  it  fell  from 
the  lips  of  this  divine  son  of  Aesculapius. 
'I'he  snarks  of  genius  which  such  a  teacher 
emits  kindle  a  fiarae  in  the  minds  of  his  pu- 
pils which  the  waters  of  all  the  rivers  and  seas 
of  the  earth  cannot  extinguish.  That  the  pre- 
dilections of  this  wonderful  man  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  in  moulding  the  character 
of  McDowell  and  in  inspiring  him  with  bold- 
ness and  confidence  as  an  operator  is  unques- 
tionable. How  far  they  affected  his  career  as 
an  ovariotomist  is  of  course  a  mere  matter  of 
eonjedure.  The  knowledge  which  he  brought 
home  with  him,  and  his  warm  sympathy  for 
suiTering  woman,  no  doubt  exercised  a  power- 
ful effect  upon  his  future  life.  Besides,  he 
WRS  not  unaware  of  the  fact  that  success  had 
often  attended  the  Cesarean  section,  and  that 


?A 


KEXTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOURXAL. 


persons  not  unfrequeutly  recovered  after  se- 
vere wounds  and  other  injuries  of  the  abdomi- 
nal and  pelvic  viscera,  iloreover,  it  is  no! 
improbable  that,  in  reflecting  upon  the  sub- 
ject, lie  came  to  the  conclusion,  long  since  uni- 
versally recognized,  that  the  peritoneum,  when 
chronically  diseased,  is  generally  compara- 
tively tolerant  of  the  rudest  manipulation, 
\v):frcas  the  slightest  exposure  of.  or  interfer- 
ence with,  the  healthy  membrane  is  sure  to  lie 
})romptly  resented,  almost  invariably,  indeed, 
at  the  expense  of  the  patient's  life.  Finally, 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  ^IcDowell  was 
a  bold  surgeon,  and  a  man  of  a  broad,  elevat- 
ed mind,  capable  of  taking  a  comprehensive 
view  of  anji:hing  that  was  presented  to  him. 
With  a  heart  as  tender  and  gentle  as  that  of 
a  woman,  he  was  not  afraid  of  the  sight  of 
blood.  For  many  years  he  had  had  the  field 
of  snrgerj^  in  Kentuets-  almost  wholly  in  his 
owji  hands.  He  had  not  been  home  long  from 
liis  foreign  residence  before  patients  began  to 
flock  to  him  from  all  parts  of  tlie  Southwest. 
and  he  found  himself  immersed  in  a  large 
surgical  practice  demanding  the  performance 
not  only  of  the  more  common  but  also  of  manv 
of  the  more  difficult  and  severe  operations. 
His  first  case  of  ovariotomy  occurred  when  he 
had  hardly  been  twelve  years  engaged  in  the 
pi'actice  of  l;is  profession.  He  was  about  the 
same  age  as  Valentine  ^lott  when  he  pei-form- 
ed  his  great  feat  of  tying  for  the  first  time  the 
innominate  ai'tery ;  an  operation  which  in  com- 
jiarison  with  that  of  ^IcDowell  is  of  utter  in- 
significance, for  of  the  nineteen  or  twenty  cases 
in  which  it  lias  been  done  only  one  life  has 
been  saved,  whereas  the  other  has  already  re- 
stored to  health  and  comfort  iij^wards  of  two 
thousand  women. 

The  career  of  ^IcDowell  is  so  intimately 
bound  up  in  the  great  operation  already  so 
frequently  mentioned  that  one  jnight  suppose 
nothing  of  interest  remained  to  be  considered. 
This,  however,  is  far  from  being  the  case.  In 
many  respects,  indeed,  it  is  replete  ^vith  inci- 
dents. Born  in  Tvockbridge  Counts-,  Virginia, 
in  1771,  he  was  brought,  when  hardly  two 
A-ears  old,  by  his  parents  to  Danville,  at  a  time 
wlien  Kentucky  was  literally  a  -wilderness,  re- 
sounding with  the  howl  of  the  panther  and  of 
the  savage,  and  reekiuar  with  blood  of  its  early 
settlers.  The  terrible  battle  foiight  near  "Blue 
Lick  Springs,  in  which  Daniel  Boone  played 
so  conspicuous  a  part  and  lost  a  son.  and 
which  proved  to  be  so  disastroiis  to  his  follow, 
ers  and  companions  in  arms,  took  place  only  a 
short  time  after  this  advent,  and  filled  the 
country  with  pain  and  sorrow.  The  frequent 
wai"s  of  which  it  was  the  theater  gave  it  a  pe 
culiar  claim  to  the  title  of  the  "Dark  and 
Bloody  GrouTid,"  from  which  it  derived  it? 
name.  At  the  period  in  question  Kentucky 
was  still  a  territoTy.  and  it  was  not  until  afte'- 
repeated  conventions,  the  last  of  which  was 


liekl  in  this  city,  that  it  was  fijially.  in  June, 
1792,  admitted  as  a  state  into  the  Union. 

^IcDowell  was  of  Seotch-Ii*ish  parentage, 
and  the  ninth  of  twelve  children.  His  great- 
grandfather, after  whom  he  was  named,  was 
P^pliraim  ^IcDowell,  a  brave  and  courageous 
man,  who,  after  having  done  some  fighting  in 
the  civil  wai'S  of  Ireland,  in  the  cause  of  the 
Covenanters,  emigrated,  after  he  was  past 
middle  life,  to  Pennsylvania,  which  he  left  in 
1737  for  Augusta  Countn-,  Virginia,  where  he 
died  at  a  very  advanced  age  shortly  before  the 
revolutionary  war.  From  an  elaborate  genea- 
ological  article  in  the  Cincinnati  Commei'cial, 
January  1-i.  1879,  under  the  710m  -de  plume-  of 
Keith,  it  appears  that  the  descendants  of  the 
Scotch-Irish  emigrant  have  become  almost  as 
numerous  as  the  sands  of  the  sea-shore,  and 
tliat  they  represent  by  their  intermarriages 
many  of  the  most  respectable  and  influential 
families  in  ]\Iaryland,  Virginia.  Kentucky. 
Ohio,  Illinois.  Indiana.  I\Iissouri.  and  indeed 
almost  in  the  entire  Southwest.  If  called  to- 
gether they  would  form,  at  least  numerically, 
a  powerful  elan.  Besides  the  gi'eat  surgeon, 
who  has  immortalized  the  family,  many  of 
these  people  have  held  important  positions,  as 
governors  of  difi'erent  states,  congi'essDien, 
laAvyers,  judges,  di-^anes,  physicians,  politici- 
ans, and  ai'my  officers.  Joseph  Xash  ^McDow- 
ell.  who  died  only  a  few  years  ago.  was  a 
ne])liew  of  Ephraim.  a  great  teacher  of  anato- 
my and  surgery,  and  the  founder  of  a  medical 
school  at  St.  Louis.  Another  nephew,  the  late 
Dr.  "William  A.  McDowell,  of  Louisville,  occu- 
pied a  high  position  as  a  sagacious  and  suc- 
cessful physician.  The  name  of  Gen.  Irvine 
McDowell,  Ignited  States  Army,  is  familiar  to 
every  American  citizen.  The  father  of  Eph- 
raim was  Samuel  ^leDowell,  an  accomplished 
gentleman,  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of 
Virginia,  and.  after  his  removal  to  Danville,  a 
judge  of  the  district  court,  a  position  which  he 
hi>ld  until  within  a  short  time  of  his  death. 
On  the  mother's  side  he  was  descended  from 
the  ^leClungs.  a  distinguished  family  of  Vir- 
.dnia.  The  son's  early  education  was  obtained 
at  a  classical  seminaiy  at  Georgetown,  in  his 
adopted  state,  under  '  the  supeiwision  of 
Messrs.  Worley  and  James,  two  accomplished 
teachers.  How  long  he  remained  hei-e.  or 
A'.hat  progress  he  made  in  his  studies.  I  am 
unable  to  say.  but  it  is  safe  to  affirm  that,  al- 
though he  was  fond  in  after  life  of  literary 
reading,  his  primary  education  was  sadly  nes- 
lected.  and  that  he  never  surmounted  his  early 
deficiencies.  He  wrote,  as  has  alreadv  been 
stared,  with  jjreat  difficiilty,*  and  his  only  lit- 
erary contributions  are  two  short  articles  con- 
tained in  the  Philndelphw  Jfcdicol  Repertory 

•The  lacsimUe  letter  of  McDowell  published  herewith 
larsrel.v  for  this  purpose,  and  the  histor.r  of  his  education, 
his  life  and  what  he  accomplished,  all  show  that  his  lacli  of 
literarj"  attainments  have  been  greatly  exaggerated.' 


MEDICAL    PIONEEUS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


35 


and  Analytical  Review  for  1817  and  1819. 
His  medical  ediication  was  commenced  in  the 
office  of  an  eminent  physician,  Dr.  Humph- 
reys, of  Staunton,  Virginia,  a  graduate  of  the 
Ijiiiversity  of  Edinburgh.  It  was  doubtless 
tlirough  the  infJueJice  of  his  preceptor  that  the 
youth  determined  to  go  at  once  to  the  foun- 
tain-head of  medical  education  and  learning, 
as  the  Scotch  metropolis  was  then  very  justly 
regarded.  At  all  events  there  is  no  proof  to 
sho'W  that  he  ever  attended  any  lectures  in 
Philadelphia,  at  that  time  the  only  place  of 
resort  for  the  medical  student  in  this  countiy. 
The  T^niversity  of  Edinburgh,  of  which  he 
was  a  member  in  1793-4,  enjoyed  a  world-wid" 
reputation  at  this  period  on  account  of  the 
learning  and  ability  of  its  professors,  among 
whom  may  be  mentioned  as  especially  worthy 
of  notice  the  uam.es  of  Cullen  and  Black,  two 
great  luminaries,  whose  fame  added  liister  to 
the  school  and  attracted  pupils  from  all  parts 
of  the  civilized  world.  Not  waiting  to  take  a 
degree,  he  immediately,  upon  his  return  to 
America,  settled  at  Danville,  where,  having 
brought  ^^^th  him  the  prestige  of  foreign 
study,  he  soon  acquired  the  confidence  of  tlie 
public  and  rapidly  rose  to  distinction  as  a 
surgeon  and  as  an  expert  operator,  a  jiosition 
of  which  he  retained  undisputed  possession 
Tinlil  the  organization,  in  1819,  of  the  medical 
scliool  at  Lexington,  when  he  was  gradually 
ecli]"'sed  by  his  young  rival.  Dr.  Benjamin 
Winslow  Dudley,  a  gentleman  of  highly  fas- 
cinating manners,  a  popular  teacher,  and,  as 
all  the  world  knows,  a  great  surgeon. 

It  is  not  the  design  of  this  address  to  entei 
into  minute  details  respecting  Dr.  ilcDowell's 
more  ordinary  surgical  achievements.  It  will 
subseiwe  my  purpose  to  state  that  he  was  an 
excellent  lithotomist,  and  that  he  repeatedly 
performed  many  of  the  great  operations  of 
surgery.  The  subject  of  one  of  these  opera, 
tions  was  -Tames  K.  Polk,  afterward  President 
of  the  United  States,  at  the  time  a  thin,  emaci- 
ated stripling,  fourteen  years  of  age.  worn  out 
by  disease,  uneducated,  and  without  appai'ent 
pi'omise  of  future  usefulness  or  distinction. 
' '  As  an  operator. ' '  as  Dr.  Alban  G.  Smith, 
who  late  in  life  changed  his  name  to  Dr.  Gold- 
smith, and  who  knew  him  well,  having  at  one 
time  been  his  partner,  told  me,  "as  an  opera- 
tor he  was  the  best  I  ever  saw  in  all  cases  in 
which  he  had  a  rule  to  guide  him;"  no  slight 
]iraise  from  a  man  who  was  himsel-f  an  expert 
operator;  and  yet  Dr.  Goldsmith  seemed  to 
forget  that  this  man  did  certainly  once  operate 
in  a  ease  in  which  he  had  no  rule  to  guide  him, 
a  case  which  was  destined  to  confer  immortal- 
ity upon  his  name. 

i\Tr:Dowe!l  was  not  onlv  a  good  ODerator,  but 
he  possessed  all  the  higher  attributes  which 
make  up  the  character  of  a  great  surgeon,  in 
tense  consciousness  and  a  scrupulous  regard 
for  the  welfare  of  his  patients.    He  never  op- 


erated merely  for  the  sake  of  operating.  He 
had  always  an  eye  to  consequences.  For  the 
mere  mechanical  surgeon  he  had  an  unmiti- 
gated contempt.  In  speaking  of  ovariotomy, 
in  answer  to  some  strictures  pronounced  upon 
his  first  three  eases,  he  expressed  the  hope 
that  no  su(!h  surgeon  will  ever  attempt  it. 
"It  is,",  he  adds,  "my  most  ardent  wish  that 
this  operation  may  remain  to  the  mechanical 
surgeon  for  ever  incomprehensible."  He  con- 
sidered the  i^rofession  of  medicine  as  a  high 
and  holy  office,  and  physicians  as  ministering 
angels,  whose  duty  it  is  to  relieve  human  .suf- 
fering and  to  glorify  God.  He  had  a  warm 
and  loving  heart, -in  full  sympathy  with  the 
M'Oiid  around  him.  To  the  poor  sick  he  was 
particularly  Icind.  He  was  a  loyal  and  devot- 
ed husb.and.  a  tender  and  loving  father,  an 
honest,  high-toned  citizen.  In  all  the  relations 
of  life  he  was  a  model.  Naturally  of  a  lively, 
social  disposition,  he  enjoyed  a  good  joke  or  a 
spicy  anecdote,  and  was  the  delight  of  every 
social  entertainment  which  he  honored  vnt\\ 
his  presence.  Late  in  life  he  devoted  much  of 
his  leisure  to  reading  and  meditation.  His  fa- 
vorite medical  authors  were  Sj^ndenham  and 
Cullen;  his  favorite  literary  authors.  Burns 
and  Scott.  During  his  sojourn  in  Scotland  he 
passed  several  months  of  his  vacation  in  ramb- 
ling over  the  country  trying  to  make  himself 
familiar  with  the  nature  and  habits  of  tht 
peasa,ntr^^  In  these  perambulations  he  had 
the  society  of  two  of  his  Kentuckj^  friends, 
Drs.  Brown  and  Speed,  the  former  of  whom 
became  afterward  Professor  of  iledicine  in 
Transylvania  I.Tniversity.  "When  the  trio 
reached  home  someone  asked  Brown,  "What 
do  you  think  of  ilcDowell  ? "  "  Tliink  of  him ' 
Why  he  went  abroad  as  a  gosling  and  has 
come  back  a  goose."  It  would  be  well  if  our 
country  had  more  of  such  birds!  He  had  lit- 
tle confidence  in  the  efficacy  of  medicine,  and 
constantly  cautioned  his  .stiidents  against  the 
too  free  use  of  drags,  saying  that  they  were 
more  of  a  curse  than  a  blessing.  He  consider- 
ed surgery  as  the  most  certain  branch  of  heal- 
ing art,  and  spai-ed  no  means  to  extend  his 
knowledge  of  it.  He  was  an  excellent  anatom 
ist.  and  it  is  said  that  he  never  performed  anv 
serious  operations  without  previouslv  recall- 
ins  to  his  mind  the  stmictures  involved  in  it. 
1)^1807  the  Medical  Society  of  Philadelphia 
sent  him  its  diploma  of  membership,  and  in 
1823  the  Universitv  of  JIarvland  conferred  on 
him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  At  the 
ase  of  thirt^^-one  he  married  Sallie,  daughter 
of  Governor  Isaac  Shelby,  of  Kentuckv^  by 
^vhom  he  had  six  children,  two  sons  and  four 
daughters,  two  of  the  latter  of  whom,  Mrs. 
Deadrick.  of  Tennessee,  and  Mrs.  Anderson, 
of  Paris,  Missouri,  are  still  living  at  an  ad- 
vanced as'e,  the  parents  of  large  and  highly 
i-espectable  families.  He  was  nearly  six  feex 
in  height,  with  a  florid  complexion,  black  eyes. 


36 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


a  commanding  pTesenee  and  remarkalile  mus- 
cular po Wei's.  As  an  illustration  of  bis  great 
pliysical  strength,  he  used  to  tell  with  peculiar 
glee  an  anecdote  of  a  circumstance  which  oc- 
curred while  he  attended  medical  lectures  at 
l''dinburgh.  One  day,  as  the  story  goes,  a 
celebrated  Irish  footracer,  a  kind  of  Mike 
Fink,  arrived,  boasting  that  he  could  outrun, 
outhop,  and  outjump  any  man  in  the  city,  and 
bantered  the  whole  medical  class.  McDowell 
was  selected  as  their  champion,  the  distance 
being  si.xty  feet,  the  stake  ten  guineas.  The 
backwoodsman  purposely  allowed  himself  to 
be  beaten.  A  second  race  for  one  hundred 
guineas,  at  an  increased  distance,  came  off 
soon  afterward,  and  this  time  the  Irishman, 
after  much  bullying,  was  badly  worsted,  much 
to  bis  own  chagrin  and  the  delight  of  the  stu- 
tlents. 

Although  l\IcDoweirs  means  were  not  large 
he  was  liberal  in  the  bestowal  of  his  charities, 
and  generous  to  a  fault  in  his  dealings  with 
his  patients.  In  1828.  only  two  years  before 
his  death,  he  united  himself  ^^ith  the  Episco- 
pal Church,  of  which  he  remained  a  zealous 
and  consistent  member,  A  vein  of  piety  ran 
through  his  whole  life.  As  a  proof  of  this  fact 
it  juay  be  staled  that  he  always  preferred  to 
perform  any  great  operation  that  he  might 
have  on  hand  on  the  Sabbath,  knowing,  as  be 
affirmed,  that  he  would  then  have  the  prayers 
of  the  Church  with  him.  Trinity  Church  of 
Danville  was  the  special  object  of  his  care; 
and  as  an  evidence  of  the  interest  he  felt  in  it 
I  may  mention,  what  does  not  seem  to  be  gen- 
erally known  even  among  your  own  citizens. 
that  he  gave  it  the  lot  upon  which  the  present 
building  is  situated.  Indeed  McDowell,  to  use 
the  language  of  one  of  your  most  noble  and 
accomplished  women,  was  the  head  and  front 
of  its  van-guard,  which  embraced  many  dis 
tinguished  names  in  the  past  historv  of  this 
portion  of  KentuekA'.  Of  Center  College  he 
was  one  of  the  founders  and  original  trustees. 

Such,  fellow-citizens  of  Kentucky,  was  the 
character  of  Ephraim  IMcDowell ;  kind-heart- 
ed, benevolent,  and  jnst  in  all  his  dealings, 
an  excellent  citizen,  an  original  thinker,  a 
bold,  fearless,  but  most  .judicious  siirgeon,  and 
above  all.  a  Christian  gentleman.  Such,  citi- 
zens of  Danville,  was  your  former  townsman, 
whose  career  has  shed  so  much  li^ster  upon  his 
age  and  country,  and  who,  if  he  could  be  in 
our  midst  this  day.  might  justly  echo  the 
words  of  the  T?07nan  poet,  "Exegi  monumenf- 
iim  acre  nereirnms." 

The  latter  years  of  this  good  man's  life 
were  clouded  by  an  attempt  made,  strange  as 
it  may  appear,  by  one  of  his  ovm  nephews  and 
private  pupils,  to  deprive  him  of  bis  claims  as 
the  oriffinatnr  of  the  operation  so  frequently 
montioned.  This  circumstance  induced  him, 
in  1826.  only  a  few  years  before  bis  death,  to 
address  a  printed  circular  to  the  physicians 


and  surgeons  of  the  West  in  vindication  of  his 
rights.  Without  entering  into  any  pai*ticu- 
lars  respecting  this  matter,  I  am  satisfied, 
from  a  careful  examination  of  all  the  facts 
connected  with  it,  that  the  pretensions  set  up 
by  this  gentleman,  were,  like  the  "baseless 
fabric  of  a  vision, ' '  without  the  slightest  foun- 
dation in  truth. 

It  was  not  given  to  McDowell  to  see  the 
fruit  of  his  labors  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own 
countrj';  the  seed  which  he  sowed  fell  upon 
meagre  soil,  and  was  slow  in  germinating. 
Now  and  then,  it  is  time,  a  blossom  shot  forth 
and  shed  its  fragrance  upon  the  air,  but  fully 
a  quarter  of  a  century  elapsed  before  it  ripen- 
ed into  vigorous  fruit.  No  single  age  has  ever- 
witnessed  the  birth  and  the  maturity  of  any 
branch  of  human  knowledge.  JIcDowell  lived 
in  advance  of  his  time  and  of  his  profession; 
his  boldness,  as  his  contemporaries  were  in- 
clined to  view  bis  conduct,  took  them,  by  sur- 
I'.rise,  and  shocked  their  sensibilities;  hence, 
instead  of  investigating  the  inerits  of  his  op- 
ei'ation,  as  reasonable  men  should  and  would 
liave  done,  they  rejected  it  as  the  device  of  a 
crack-brained  man,  who  deserved  to  be  prose- 
cuted for  violation  of  the  sixth  commandment. 
It  Avas  unfortunate  for  McDowell  that  he 
lived  at  a  time  when  there  were  no  societies 
for  the  diflPusion  of  knowledge,  and  when  the 
means  of  communicating  intelligence  were  so 
scanty  as  they  were  in  the  earlj'  part  of  the 
present  century.  News  at  that  period  of  our 
history,  locked  up  as  it  always  was  in  the 
mailbags  of  the  cumbersome  four-wheeled 
stage-coach,  was  often  stale  before  it  reached 
its  destination.  In  those  days,  as  well  as  for 
a  long  time  afterward,  there  were  no  rail- 
roads, no  steamships,  no  telegraphs.  The 
world  moved  at  a  snail-like  pace,  or,  as  it 
were  upon  the  back  of  a  tortoise,  at  the  I'ate 
of  six  or  eight  miles  an  hour.  To  publish  re- 
ports of  medical  cases  or  of  surgical  operations 
was  then,  as  it  is  now,  unprofessional.  Be- 
sides, even  if  such  a  course  had  been  permis- 
sible they  would  have  found  their  way  very 
tardily  to  the  public.  Journalism  was  at  a 
low  ebb ;  there  were  comparatively  few  news- 
papers, and  newspaper  I'eporters  had  no  ex- 
istence. Medical  news  traveled  still  more 
slowly  than  miscellaneous.  In  1817,  when 
McDowell's  first  three  cases  Avere  reported  in 
the  Philadelphia  Medical  Fcpcrtorif  and 
Avali/ficaJ  Be  vie  v.  there  was,  if  I  mistake 
not.  only  one  other  medical  periodical  in  the 
United  States.  Had  ^IcDowell's  operation 
been  performed  in  our  day  the  news  would 
have  spread  far  and  Avide  AAdthin  the  firet 
twenty-four  hours,  and  in  an  almost  incredi- 
bly short  time  Avould  have  been  carried  to  the 
utmost  limits  of  civilization.  As  it  was.  it 
was  locked  up  first  for  eight  years  in  the  brain 
of  its  originator,  and  then  in  an  obscure  med- 
ical journal,  and  Avhen  at  length  it  reached  the 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


37 


other  side  of  the  Atlantic    it    met  only  with 
ridicule  and  incredulity. 

An  account  of  McDowell's  first  three  cases 
was,  it  seems,  sent  to  Dr.  Physick,  of  Phila- 
delphia, but  from  some  cause  or  other  it  fail- 
ed to  interest  him  or  to  attract  his  attention. 
He  probably  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the 
hack^voods  surgeon,  and  therefore,  it  may  be, 
looked  upon  him  as  an  adventurer  unworthy 
of  notice.  However  this  may  be,  it  fared 
much  better  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  James,  the 
amiable  Professor  of  Midwifery  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania.  This  gentleman, 
deeply  impressed  with  the  novelty  and  im- 
portance of  the  subject,  and  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  hopeless  character  of  the 
ordinary  treatment  of  ovarian  diseases,  read 
an  account  of  the  cases  before  his  class,  and 
caused  it  shortly  after  to  be  published  in  the 
journal,  already  several  times  referred  to,  and 
of  which,  in  fact,  he  was  one  of  the  editors. 
He,  hoiwever,  failed  to  make  any  editorial  com 
ments  upon  the  subject,  or  to  defend  the  op- 
ei'ation  when  assailed  by  ignorant  critics.  Me 
Dowell  also  sent  an  abstract  of  his  cases  to  his 
old  master,  STr.  John  Bell,  but  as  this  gentle- 
man had  been  for  some  time  absent  on  the 
Continent,  and  not  long  aftei'ward  died  at 
Rome,  it  never  reached  him.  The  paper,  how- 
ever, fell  into  the  hands  of  one  of  his  pupils, 
Mr.  John  Lizars,  of  Edinburgh,  by  whom  it 
was  published  in  the  Edinburgh  Bledical  and 
Surgical  Janrnal  for  1824.  Mr.  Lizars,  as  be- 
fore stated,  was  the  first  to  perform  McDow- 
ell's operation  in  Great  Britain. 

In  no  purauit  of  life  does  history  repeat  it- 
self more  frequently  than  in  affairs  relating 
to  huma]i  progress,  innovation,  and  discovery. 
From  this  occurrence  pur  profession  is  not 
exempt.  The  history  of  the  discovery  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  one  of  the  most  bril- 
liant achievements  of  the  hviman  intellect  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  is  a  striking  instance 
in  point.  Of  Harvey's  contemporaries  not 
one,  it  is  said,  over  forty  years  of  age  accept- 
ed his  teachings.  Many  years  elapsed  before 
the  value  of  vaccination  w^as  fullv  recognized, 
and  even  now  an  operation  which  has  saved 
millions  of  lives  has  its  opponents  not  alone 
amonsr  the  vulgar,  but  among  otherwise  high- 
ly enlightened  people.  The  use  of  the  stetho- 
scope as  a  means  of  diagnosis  was  long  reject- 
ed by  medical  men,  and  the  speculum,  an  in- 
strument as  old  as  Herculaneum,  reintroduc- 
ed to  the  notice  of  the  profession  less  than  fift\ 
years  aeo  by  Pecamier,  of  Paris,  met  with  no 
better  fate.  Ever\d3ody  knows  with  what 
suspicion  many  physicians  regarded  the  em- 
ployment of  anesthetics,  and  it  is  fair  to  say 
that  much  "Drejudiee  in  resrard  to  the  use  of 
this  class  of  remedies  still  lingers  in  the  pub- 
lic mind.  Ignorance,  superstition,  and  preju- 
dice have  ever  been  giants  in  the  path  of  pro- 
gress. 


The  idea  of  erecting  a  monument  to  the 
memory  of  Dr.  McDowell  originated  with  one 
of  the  citizens  of  Danville,  the  late  lamented 
I.)r.  John  D.  Jackson,  a  gentleman  whose 
death,  a  few  years  ago,  in  the  prime  of  life, 
threw  a  whole  community  into  mourning,  and 
ivhose  memorj'  will  long  be  cherished  on  ac- 
count of  his  varied  accomplishments  as  a  phy- 
sician, his  lovable  character  as  a  man,  and  the 
many  amiable  impulses  of  his  great  heart. 
This  idea  was  in  due  time  communicated  to 
the  Kentucky  State  Medical  Society^  of  which 
Dr.  Jackson  was  a  prominent  member,  and 
acted  upon  through  a  committee  whose  duty 
it  became  to  collect  the  necessary  funds  for 
carrying  out  the  noble  design.  This  commit- 
tee made  known  its  wishes  not  only  to  the  pro- 
fession of  this  country,  but  to  our  brethren 
in  Europe,  and  also,  if  I  mistake  not,  to  the 
women  who  had  been  the  fortu)iate  recipients 
of  the  fruits  of  Dr.  McDowell 's  operation. 
Finally  in  1875,  a  stirring  appeal  was  made 
to  the  American  Medical  Association  at  its 
annual  meeting  at  Louisville  in  May  of  that 
year.  Prom  no  one  of  these  sources,  however, 
was  any  substantial  aid  derived,  and  it  de- 
volved at  last  upon  the  society  in  which  the  de- 
sign originated  to  furnish  nearly  the  entire 
sum  necessary  to  carry  it  into  execution.* 

'While,  therefore,  the  granite  shaft  which 
graces  yonder  eemetei-y  is  a  just  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  a  great  and  good  man,  whose 
title  to  immortality  is  well  founded,  let  us  not 
forget  the  part  borne  in  its  erection  by  the 
Kentucky  Medical  iSociety,  which  had  the 
sagacity  to  perceive,  and  the  liberality  to  exe- 
cute, a  design  which  reflects  so  much  credit 
uDon  the  medical  profession  and  the  State  of 
Kentucky.  I  feel  a  just  pride  when  I  recall 
the  fact  that  I  was  one  of  the  founders  of  a 
Society  which  now  includes  among  its  mem- 
bers nearly  all  the  medical  talent,  cidture, 
and  refinement  of  the  State,  and  which  has 
established  a  reputation  for  ability,  learning, 
and  enterprise  not  ex'ceeded  bv  any  similar 
association  in  the  United  States.  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell is  not  the  only  physician  of  whom 
Kentucky  has  reason  to  be  nroud.  She  furn- 
islied  the  first  case  of  hip-joint  amnutation  on 
this  continent  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  "Walter 
Bj-ashear,  of  Bardstown.  of  lithotritv  in  the 
practice  of  Dr.  Alban  G-.  Smith,  of  Danville, 
and  the  most  flattering  results  in  ovariotomy 


*An.  in  fact,  that  the  Ampriean  Mpflical  Association  rlid 
was  to  pass  an  emptv  rosointion.  leavinsr.  as  the  ilinstT'ious 
chairman.  Dr.  .T.  Marion  Sims.  p,\-nresspcl  it.  "to  Kentucky 
tlie  grratefnl  privilege  of  providing  a  local  monnment  to  the 
memory  of  Pr.  McOowell."  and  reanestiner  Ihe  Association 
to  contribute  thrnuerh  its  individual  memhei-s  the  sum  of 
ten  thousand  dollars  as  a  fund,  to  he  called  the  "McPowell 
Memorial  Fund."  to  he  devoted  to  the  payment  of  prizes  for 
the  best  essays  reiatinar  to  the  diseases  and  surg-ery  of  the 
ovaries.  This  fund  is  still  unborn,  and  it  is  not  probable 
that  it  will  receive  aoy  further  attention  from  the  Assccia- 
tion. 


08 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURXAL. 


iu  the  hands  of  Dr.  J.  Taylor  Bradford,  of 
Augusta.  The  triniuphs  of  Dr.  Benjamin  W. 
Dudlej-  in  lithotomy  established  for  him  an 
unrivaled  reputation  in  his  day  as  a  gi'eat  op- 
erator in  calculus  affections.  Her  medical 
teachers  were  foi'  a  long  time,  as  they  still  are, 
anions  the  foremost  in  the  laud,  and  it  is  but 
just  to  say  that  her  practitioners  have  no 
where  any  superiors.  Kenti^ckj^  was  the  first 
Slate  west  of  the  Allegrhany  ilountains  to 
establish  a  medical  school  and  to  send  forth 
its  first  medical  graduate  iu  the  West.  If  in 
statesmanship  she  may  boast  of  a  Clay  and  of 
a  ''silver-tongued"  Crittenden,  whose  elo- 
quence  enchanted  admiring  audiences,  and 
elicited  the  applause  of  the  senate  chamber; 
if  her  bar  was  long  kno\vn  as  one  of  the  most 
elegant,  austere,  and  learned  in  the  land:  if 
her  pulpit  was  dignified  by  the  piety,  erudi 
tioii.  and  oratory  of  her  Campbells  and  her 
I^reckinridges.  and  is  still  adorned  by  het 
Humphreys,  her  Robinsons,  and  other  great 
divines,  she  has  their  counterparts  in  het 
Caldwell,  her  Drake,  hpr  Dudl-^y.  her  'Miller, 
her  "Rogers,  ber  Yandell.  her  Bush,  and  othei 
great  phvsicians  whose  names  stand  high  up- 
071  the  roll  of  fame,  and  who,  if  thev  had  di- 
rf'Cted  their  attention  to  other  pursuits,  would 
have  been  equally  distinguished.  These  men 
need  no  monuments  to  peipetuate  their  vir- 
tues or  their  services;  their  names  live  in  the 
esteem  and  affc'-tion  of  their  fellow-citizens, 
eusrraved  iu  o-ood  acts,  desisned  to  relieve  hu- 
man suffering,  and  to  exalt  the  dignity-  of 
human  nature. 

I  stop  here  for  a  moment  to  ask.  what  is  the 
object  of  a  monument?  Ts  it  to  glorify  the 
dead  or  to  eneourasre  the  living?  The  boy, 
as  he  passes  along  Charles  Street.  Baltimore, 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Washington  ]\Ionu- 
iiient.  pauses  to  read  the  inscription  upon  its 
eutablatm-e :  "Erected  by  the  State  of  Mary- 
land in  grateful  recognition  of  the  virtues  and 
services  of  the  'Father  of  bis  Coiuitry'."  He 
gazes  at  the  august  figure  at  the  top,  and  dis- 
cerns in  it  all  the  attributes  of  a  great  man ; 
he  goes  home  and  curiosity  impels  him  to  iu- 
(|uire  into  hi.-:  character;  perhaps  he  consults 
his  childish  history,  and  there  finds  that 
Washington,  the  grandest  subject  of  all  his- 
toiw.  was  the  saviour  of  his  country:  like  him- 
self, at  one  time,  an  obscure  youth,  but  now, 
long  after  his  death,  the  idol  of  the  American 
p  ople.  He  has  learned  an  important  lesson ; 
his  ambition  is  roused  ;  his  energies  have  re- 
ceived a  new  impulse :  in  a  word,  new  life  has 
been  infused  into  l;is  soul,  and  that  boy  is  al- 
ready the  coming  man.  The  granite  shaft 
which  we  have  this  day  dedicated  to  the  mem- 
ory of  'McDowell  is  a  li-\ang  biography,  design- 
ed not  merely  to  commemorate  the  vii-tues  and 
seiwices  of  a  great  and  good  man.  biit  to  ex- 
cite the  emulation  of  Kentucky's  youths,  and 
to  urse  them  on  to  deeds  of  valor  and  of  hu- 


manitj-.  A  eoimtry  without  monuments  is  a 
country  without  civilization. 

1  can  not  forbear  introducing  here  the  ap- 
propriate and  beautiful  remarks  of  an  old 
and  distinguished  pupil,  Dr.  David  W.  Tan- 
dell,  made  upon  a  recent  festive  occasion, 
when  contrasting  the  fame  of  the  statesman, 
the  orators,  and  the  military  men  of  Ken- 
tueks'  with  that  of  jMcDowell.  "Chief  among 
all  of  these,"  says  my  eloquent  friend,  "is  he 
who  bears  the  mark  of  our  guild,  Ephraim 
^McDowell ;  for  the  labors  of  the  statesman  will 
give  way  to  the  pitiless  logic  of  events,  the 
voice  of  the  orator  grow  fainter  in  the  com- 
ing ages,  and  the  deeds  of  the  soldier  eventu- 
ally find  place  only  in  the  librar)'  of  the  stu- 
dent of  military  campaigns,  while  the  achieve- 
ments of  the  village  surgeon,  like  the  widen- 
ing waves  of  the  inviolate  sea,  shall  reach  the 
uttermost  shores  of  time,  hailed  by  all  ci'vili- 
zalion  as  having  lessened  the  suffering  and 
lengthened  the  span  of  human  life." 

In  selecting  Danville  for  the  site  of  the 
"^rcDowell  'Monument."  the  Kentiieky  State 
Medical  Society  made  a  happy  choice,  for  it 
was  here  that  the  Father  of  Ovariotomy  en- 
conn+ered  and  vanquished  his  earlv  profes 
sional  struggles;  here  that  he  perfonued  his 
great  achievements;  here  that  at  the  close  of 
a  well-spent  life  he  was  laid  quietly  in  the 
grave.  Wlien  ^IcDowell,  after  his  return 
from  Europe,  began  tlie  practice  of  medicine 
here,  Danville  contained  a  mere  handful  of 
inhabitants:  but  he  soon  identified  himself 
with  its  prosperity,  watehins:  its  progi'ess 
with  a  jealoiis  eye,  and  contributing  largely 
by  his  means  and  his  s'ood  sense  to  make  it 
what  it  now  emphatically  is,  the  Athens  of  the 
West,  a  distinction  at  one  time  so  justly  con- 
ceded to  her  neighbor,  Lexington.  Its  insti- 
tutions of  learning  have  become  the  foremost 
in  the  State.  Center  College  has  educated 
many  of  Kentuekv-'s  greatest  citizens.  Its 
theological  school  has  widely  disseminated  the 
lessons  of  Christianity".  Its  female  seminaries 
have  planted  the  seeds  of  ^drtue.  piety,  and 
learning  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  her  young 
women.  The  institution  for  the  education  of 
deaf-mute«  was  the  first  of  the  kind  establish- 
ed in  the  West.  Founded  in  182.3.  shortlv  af- 
ter those  of  Hartford.  Philadelphia,  and  Xew 
York,  it  gradually,  despite  great  obstacles,  at- 
tained under  the  wise  management  and  fos- 
tering care  of  the  late  ]Mr.  John  A.  Jacobs, 
extendiuir  over  a  period  of  forty-four  years,  a 
degree  of  reputation  not  less  creditable  to  the 
country  at  larse  than  to  his  adopted  State. 
His  death  in  1869  was  a  public  loss,  widely 
deplored. 

Nearly  forty  years  have  elapsed  since  I  was 
called  to  the  chair  of  surgery  in  the  Univers- 
ity of  Louisville,  and  responded,  along  with 
Professor  Drake,  at  the  request  of  my  col- 
leagues, to  an  invitation  issued  bv  the  late  Dr. 


MEDICAL     PIONEEIifi     OF    KENTUCKY, 


3S 


William  L.  Sutton,  of  Georgetown,  to  assist  in 
I'orjiiing  a  State  medical  society.  The  first 
attempt  proved  abortive,  but  another,  made 
uJider  more  favorable  auspices  several  years 
later,  was  successful,  and  the  society  soon  as- 
sumed important  proportions.  Of  the  origin- 
al members,  of  whom  Dr.  Sutton  was  one  of 
the  most  zealous  and  influential,  few  survive: 
i)ut  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  work 
which  they  inaugurated  has  been  so  nobly 
inished  forward  by  their  successors,  not  a  few 
of  whom  have  achieved  a  Avide  and  endearing 
reputation  as  medical  pliilosophers,  clear 
thinkers,  accurate  observers,  and  accomplish- 
ed and  sagacious  practitioners.  If  any  evi- 
dence were  needed  of  their  zeal  to  advance 
the  interests  of  medical  science  and  of  suffer- 
ing humanity,  it  would  be  found,  not  in  idle 
talk  or  vapid  boasting,  but  in  hard  work  and 
steady  and  persistent  effort,  as  shown  in  the 
transactions  of  their  society  and  in  our  peri- 
odical literature.  Progress  of  the  most  laud- 
able character  is  everywhere  visible  in  its 
ranks.  Since  the  period  adverted  to,  most  of 
lay  earlier  Kentucky  friends  in  and  out  of  the 
profession  have  passed  away,  while  of  my 
eai'lier  colleagues  in  the  University  of  Louis- 
ville not  one  remains.  Drake  and  Caldwell 
and  Sliort  and  Cobb  and  Miller  and  the  Elder 
Yandell  have  gone  to  their  last  home,  to  that 
sleep  which  knows  no  waking.  Palmer  and 
Pogers,  who  entered  the  school  at  a  later  day, 
have  also  been  gathered  to  their  fathers;  the 
one  a  brilliant  anatomical  teacher  and  a  genial 
and  intelligent  companion;  the  other  for  up- 
■ward  of  a  third  of  a  century  Louisville's  hon- 
ored, beloved,  and  favorite  physician,  with  a 
heart  gentle  as  a  woman's  and  a  countenance 
benignant  as  an  angel's.  Kentucky  has  a 
long  list  of  deceased  physicians,  who  have 
left  behind  them  a  rich  legacy  and  an  exam- 
ple worthy  of  the  emulation  of  their  success- 
ors, whose  duty  it  should  be  to  cherish  their 
memories  and  to  transmit  to  their  descendants 
the  history  of  their  lives. 

It  would  be  unjust  alike  to  the  occasion  as 
it  would  be  to  my  own  feelings  if  I  failed  to 
connect  with  each  other  and  with  the  great 
ovariotomist.  as  with  an  adamantine  chain, 
the  )iaines  of  those  of  our  surgeons,  already 
several  times  mentioned,  who  have  been  in- 
strumental in  reviving  this  operation  in  this 
countrj^  and  thus  giving  it  a  ne}v  impulse. 
The  names  which  stand  most  conspicuously 
u]-)on  this  honored  list  are  those  of  the  two 
brothers  Atlep,  John  and  Washington,  J.  Tay- 
lor Bradford,  Edmund  Randoli^h  Peaslee,  Gil- 
man  Kimball,  and  Alexander  Dunlap.  Of 
these  six  pioneers  in  this  field  of  surgery, 
three  have  passed  away,  while  the  other  three, 
John  L.  Atlee,  Gilman  Kimball  and  Alexan- 
der Dunlap,  are  still  spared  to  us,  in  a  ripe 
but  vigorous  old  age,  to  battle  with  disease 


and  death  and  to  earn  additional  laurels  for 
themselves  and  their  country. 

Of  the  early  life  of  Dr.  J.  Taylor  Bradford, 
^.yha  died  a  number  of  years  ago  in  the  prime 
and  vigor  of  life,  I  know  nothing,  although 
our  acquaintance  extended  over  a  period  of 
twenty  years.  He  received  his  medical  degree 
h-ora  the  ITniversity  of  Louisville  during  the 
early  part  of  my  connection  with  that  insti- 
tution, and,  settling  at  Augusta  inunediately 
afterward,  soon  acquired  a  large  and  com 
manding  practice,  performing  m.any  import- 
ant surgical  operations,  and  earning  an  envi- 
able reputation  as  a  most  successful  ovarioto- 
mist. Had  he  reached  the  age  usually  allotted 
to  man  his  cases  would  probably  have  been 
counted  by  the  hundred. 

Dr.  Washington  L.  Atlee,  who  died  at  his 
home  in  Philadelphia  in  September,  1878, 
was,  as  is  his  brother  John,  a  native  of  Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  born  in 
February,  1808.  After  having  received  ari 
academic  education  he  graduated  at  the  Jef- 
ferson Medical  College  in  1829.  Having  been 
fellow-students  in  the  office  of  Professor 
George  MeClellan,  the  eminent  surgeon,  and 
having  met  with  him  very  frequently  after 
my  removal  to  Philadelphia  in  1856,  I  had 
excellent  opportunities  of  forming  a  correct  es- 
timate of  his  character,  wdiich  no  one  perhaps 
appreciates  more  fully  than  myself.  If  his 
character  was  not  perfect  in  the  true  sense  of 
that  term  it  was  a  model  worthy  of  universal 
imitation.  He  had  many  striking  traits  of 
character,  with  a  strong,  vigorous  mind  in- 
eased  in  a  strong  body,  and  accomplished  a 
vast  deal  of  work.  He  performed  a  much 
greater  number  of  professional  journeys  than 
ever  fell  to  tlie  lot  of  any  American  physician. 
His  visits  extended  into  almost  every  State  of 
tlie  Union  ancJ  even  into  a  number  of  our  Ter- 
ritories. His  power  of  endurance  was  gi- 
gantic. He  often  traveled  thousands  of  miles 
without  taking  any  rest  except  such  as  he 
found  upon  the  swiftly  flying  railway  train. 
Not  unfrequently  he  performed  two  ovariot- 
omy operations  on  the  same  day.  Such  labor 
could  not  fail  to  make  serions  inroads  upon 
the  stoutest  frame,  and,  although  the  day  of 
I'eckoning  was  long  put  off,  it  was  sure  to 
come  at  leTigth. 

The  early  professional  life  of  Atlee  was 
spent  in  earnest  practice,  enlivened  by  the 
study  of  botany  and  other  branches  of  nat- 
ural science,  for  which  he  had  a  great  fond- 
ness. Much  of  his  leisure  during  the  first  few 
y(>ars  was  spent  among  the  flowers  and  grasses 
of  his  native  county.  After  his  removal,  in 
18-4-1.  to  Philadelphia  he  occupied  for  eight 
A'cars  the  chair  of  chemistry  in  wdaat  was  then 
known  as  the  Pennsylvania  Medical  College. 
His  career  as  an  ovariotomist  began,  as  al- 
ready stated,  in  1844  and  terminated  only 
with  his  life.    His  first  ease  proved  fatal.    As 


40 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


an  operator  in  his  specialty  he  had  no  su- 
perior on  this  continent,  if  indeed  anywhere. 
Despising  display,  always  so  well  calculated 
to  entrap  the  viiJgar,  he  eiuploj'ed  the  fewest 
possible  instruments  and  went  about  his  work 
cahuly  and  deliljerately,  with  the  greatest 
care  for  the  welfare  of  his  patient,  which,  it  is 
safe  to  say.  no  man  bad  ever  more  at  heart. 
There  was  no  hurry,  no  parade,  no  ostenta- 
tion. 1  witnessed  a  number  of  his  operations 
and  was  strongh'  impressed  by  the  simplicity 
of  his  movements  and  the  coolness  of  his  man- 
ner. Such,  iji  a  few  words  was  his  character 
as  an  operator.  But  it  must  not  be  inferred 
that  Dr.  Atlee  was  a  mere  specialist.  For 
many  years  he  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative 
general  practice,  although  during  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  of  his  life  his  business 
^ras  maijily  in  the  direction  of  abdominal 
surgery,  in  which  he  achieved  an  enduriug 
reputation.  He  wrote  largely  for  the  medical 
press,  and  late  in  life  published  an  able  and 
elaborate  treatise  on  the  "Diagnosis  of  Ovar- 
ian Tumors,"  a  subject  which  he  invested 
with  new  light.  His  operation  for  the  remov- 
al of  the  fi!)roid  growths  of  the  utems  consti- 
tutes a  new  era  in  snrgerj-,  precious  alike  to 
science  and  to  humanity.  Like  McDowell's 
operation,  Atlee's  was  received  with  distrust, 
and  remained  unappreciated  for  upward  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  Time,  however,  which 
geuerall}^  measures  things  according  to  their 
real  value,  has  made  a  strong  verdict  in  its 
favor,  and  it  is  therefore  not  sui*prising  that 
the  gynecologists  of  America  and  Europe 
should  unite  in  proclaiming  it  as  one  of  the 
g;reatest  achievements  of  modern  surgery. 
Atlee's  own  successes  should  have  'been  quite 
sufficient  to  convince  any  unprejudiced  mind 
of  its  great  value. 

Atlee  had  a  strong  but  tender,  sympathiz- 
iug  heart,  a  well-regulated  temper,  a  high 
sense  of  honor,  and  a  clear  and  well-cultivat- 
ed mind.  Tall  and  erect  in  person,  he  had  a 
eonunanding  presence,  blended  with  the  air 
and  graces  of. the  well-bred  gentleman.  In 
the  sick-room  he  was  cheerful  and  winning  in 
his  manners,  with  a  heart  full  of  kindly  feel- 
ing for  the  sufferer.  He  was  the  idol  of  his 
family,  a  warm  friend,  a  loyal  citizen,  a  con- 
sistent Chi-istiau.  His  last  ilkiess.  extending 
over  a  period  of  three  months,  was  ci'uelly  se- 
vere, but  he  bore  his  suffering,  which  was 
daily  making  sad  inroads  upon  his  previous- 
ly robust  frame,  without  a  miirmuj'  of  com- 
plaint or  impatience.  The  gradual  decay  of 
his  body  did  not  impair  his  intellectual  pow- 
ers, and  his  mind  remained  clear  to  the  last. 
No  man,  perhaps,  ever  set  his  house  more  per- 
fectly in  order  than  he  did ;  not  even  the  most 
minute  details  were  overlooked.  Impartial  his- 
tory will  assign  to  Washington  L.  Atlee  a 
high  rank  in  the  temple  of  fame  as  an  original 


thinker,  an  accomplished  surgeon  and  phy- 
sician, and  a  benefactor  of  his  race. 

Dr.  Edmund  Kandolj)!!  Peaslee,  whose 
name,  as  has  been  stated,  is,  like  that  of  Atlee, 
so  honorably  associated  with  the  progress  ot 
ovariotomy  in  this  country,  died  m  January, 
i.878,  only  about  eight  months  before  his  dis- 
tinguished Philadelphia  confrere.  Born  in 
New  Hampshire  in  1^14,  he  was  emphatically 
a  many-sided  man,  of  high  culture,  great  re- 
finement, vast  industry,  and  extraordinary 
l^rofessional  resources  in  cases  of  emergency. 
With  the  exception  of  Nathan  Smith,  of  New 
Haven,  a  contemporary  of  McDowell,  I  have 
no  recollection  of  any  man  who  in  recent 
times  lectui'ed  on  so  many  branches  of  med- 
ical science  or  filled  chairs  in  so  many  medical 
schools.  Anatomy  and  physiology,  general 
pathology,  surgery,  obstetrics,  and  gjoiecol- 
ogy  were  the  diversified  themes  which  from 
tijne  to  time  enga^ged  his  facile  brain  as  a  pub- 
lic teacher.  He  was  also  an  expert  and  cau- 
tious operator  and  a  most  accomplished  phy- 
sician, especially  distinguished  for  his  skill 
as  a  diagnostician.  Besides  numerous  papers 
contributed  to  the  periodical  press,  he  Avas  the 
author  of  several  books ;  among  others  an  ex- 
haustive treatise  on  "Ovarian  Tumors,"  pub- 
lished in  1872,  a  production  which,  while  it 
greatly  enhanced  his  reputation  at  home, 
made  his  name  widely  known  abroad.  Of  his 
operations  I  have  already  spoken.  The  pri- 
vate character  of  Dr.  Peaslee  may  be  best 
summed  up  in  the  beautiful  words  of  his  bi- 
ographer, the  Rev.  Dr.  Bartlett,  President  of 
Dartmouth  College,  who,  having  known  him 
long  and  well,  thus  speaks  of  him:  "His 
day,"  says  this  accomplished  scholar,  "is 
done ;  his  sun  is  set.  But  from  the  scene  of  its 
setting  there  streams  up  a  trailing  brightness, 
as  of  some  perpetual  zodiacal  light — the  sliin- 
ing  example  of  one  who,  while  profound  in 
science,  wise  in  counsel,  and  excellent  in  skill, 
■sras  also  sincere  in  piety,  blameless  in  man- 
hood, true  in  friendship,  genial  in  inter- 
course, and  whose  presence  enters  the  siek- 
chamber  like  a  sunbeam  from  heaven  stream- 
ing  into  a  darkened  room.  Its  mild  radiance 
lingers  in  hundreds  of  homes  and  thousands 
of  hearts.  It  is  a  life  profitable  for  yoiuig 
men  to  contemplate." 

Young  men  of  the  Kentucky  State  Medical 
Society,  listen  to  the  voice  of  one  who  has 
grown  old  in  his  profession,  and  who  will 
probably  never  address  you  again,  as  he  ut- 
ters a  parting  word  of  adAnce.  The  great 
question  of  the  day  is.  not  this  operation  or 
tljat,  not  ovariotomy  or  lithotomy,  or  a  hip- 
joint  amputation,  which  have  reflected  so 
much  glory  on  Kentucky  medicine,  but  is 
preventive  medicine,  the  liA^giene  of  our  per- 
sons, our  dwellings,  our  streets:  in  a  word, 
our  surroundings,  whatever  and  wherever 
they  may  be,  whether  in  city,  town,  hamlet. 


MEDICAL     PIONEEh'S     OF    KENTUCKY, 


41 


or  country,  and  the  establishment  of  efficient 
town  and  state  boards  of  '  health,  through 
wiiose  agency  we  shall  be  tlie  better  able  to 
prevejit  tlie  origin  and  fatal  effects  of  what 
are  known  as  the  zymotic  diseases,  which  carry 
so  inuch  woe  and  sorrow  into  our  families 
and  which  often  sweep,  like  a  hurricane,  over 
the  earth,  destroying  millions  of  iiuman  lives 
in  an  incredibly  short  time.  The  day  has 
arrived  when  the  people  must  be  roused  to  a 
deeper  and  more  earnest  sense  of  the  people's 
weltare,  and  when  suitable  measures  must  be 
adopted  for  their  protection  as  well  as  for  the 
better  development  of  their  physical,  moral, 
and  intellectual  powers.  This  is  the  great 
problem  of  the  day,  the  question  which  you, 
as  representatives  of  the  rising  generation  of 
physicians,  should  urge,  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  on  the  attention  of  your  fellow^-citi- 
i-eiis;  the  question  which,  above  all  and 
beyond  all  otliers,  should  engage  your  most 
serious  thoughts  and  elicit  your  most  earnest 
cooperation.  When  this  great,  this  mighty  ob- 
ject shall  be  attained ;  when  man  shall  be  able 
to  prevent  disease  and  to  reach  with  little  or 
no  suffering  his  three-score  years  and  ten,  so 
graphically  described  by  the  Psalmist,  then, 
but  not  till  then,  will  the  world  be  a  paradise, 
with  God,  Almighty,  AlL-wise,  and  All-merei- 
ful,  in  its  midst,  reflecting  the  glory  of  His 
majesty  and  power,  and  holding  sweet  con- 
verse in  a  thousand  tongues  with  the  human 
family. 


PRESENTATION  ADDRESS. 

REMARKS  MADE  BY  PROPESSOK  BICHABD  0.   COW- 
LING,  M.   D.,  OP  liOUISVn^LE,  IN   PRESENT- 
ING   THE  DOOR-KNOCKER  OP   DR.    MC- 
DOWELL TO  DR.  GROSS. 

Dr.  Gross,  the  Kentucky  State  Medical  So- 
cietj'  thanks  you  for  the  beautiful  oration  yon 
have  just  delivered  on  Ephraim  McDowell. 
Surely  hereafter,  when  history  shall  recall  his 
deeds  and  dwell  upon  his  memory,  it  will  re- 
late how*,  when  he  was  fifty  years  at  rest,  the 
greatest  of  living  surgeons  in  America  came 
upon  a  pilgrimage  of  a  thousand  miles  to  pro- 
nounce at  his  shrine  the  noble  words  you  have 
spoken. 

The  Society  does  not  wdsh  that  you  should 
return  to  your  home  without  some  memento 
of  the  occasion  wdiich  brought  you  here,  and 
which  shall  tell  you  also  of  the  admiration, 
the  respect,  and  the  affection  it  ever  bears  for 
you. 

I  have  been  appointed  to  deliver  to  you 
this  simple  gift,  with  the  trust  and  the  belief 
that  it  will  always  pleasantly  i-ecall  this  time, 
and  be  a  token  of  our  feelings  toward  you. 
We  wished  to  give  you  something  directly 
connected  with  McDowell  and  it  occurred  to 
us  that  this  memento  of    the     dead  surgeon 


would  be  most  appropriate.  It  is  only  the 
knocker  which  hung  upon  his  door,  but  it  car- 
ries much  meaning  wicn  it. 

itie  sweetest  memories  of  our  lives  are 
Avoven  aoout  our  uomestic  emuiema.  Xne 
heartnsione  around  wnicn  we  na,ve  gatnereu, 
ttie  uuair  in  wnicn  our  iovea  ones  nave  sat,  tue 
cup  tiieir  iips  nave  Kissea,  tne  iute  tneir  nanus 
have  swepL — ivvnat  jeweis  can  repicice  tneir 
value?  uo  you  remember  tne  encnantment 
liiat  Douglas  derroia  wove  about  a  nat-peg? 
liow  at  tne  cnristening  ot  a  cuiiu  tney  gave  it 
great  guts  oi  aiamouus  ana  pearis  anu  laces ; 
iuid  WiiKU  tne  lairy  goumoiner  came,  anu  tney 
expected  tnat  sue  would  eciipse  tnem  aii  witn 
liie  magnincence  ot  Uer  dowry,  now  sue  gave 
It  siiupiy  a  nat-peg?  Tney  wouaered  wnai 
good  couid  come  oi  that,  llie  boy  grew  to  be 
a  man.  In  wiiu  pursuiis  his  ricnes  were  wast- 
ed, and  at  last  ne  came  nome  and  nttud  It's 
liat  upon  that  peg.  And  wnne  tne  goouman's 
liat  was  hangiug  there  peace  and  plenty  and 
oi'der  and  arteciion  sprang  up  m  ms  nome, 
and  the  hat-peg  was  indeed  the  talisman  of 
hisi  life. 

]  would  that  the  magician's  wand  were 
granted  me  a  while  to  weave  a  titting  iegeuei 
around  this  door-knocker,  wiuch  comes  irom 
McDowell  to  you,  Dr.  Gross.  Ihere  is  mucli 
in  the  emblem.  No  one  knows  better  than 
you  how  good  and  how  great  was  the  man  of 
whom  it  speaks,  it  wiii  teil  ol  many  sum- 
mons upon  mercy's  mission  which  did  not 
sound  in  vain.  Ofttimes  has  it  roused  to  action 
one  whose  deeds  have  tilled  the  world  with 
fame.  A  sentinel,  it  stood  at  the  doorway  of  a 
happy  and  an  honorable  home,  whose  master, 
as  he  had  bravely  answered  its  signals  to  duty 
here  below,  so  when  the  greater  summons 
came,  as  trustfully  answei-ed  that,  and  laid 
,down  a  stainless  life. 

It  belongs  bj^  right  to  you,  Dr.  Gross.  This 
household  genius  passes  most  fittingly  from 
the  dearest  of  Kentucky's  dead  surgeons  to 
the  most  beloved  of  her  living  sons  in  medic- 
ine. She  will  ever  claim  you  as  her  son,  and 
will  look  with  jealous  eye  upon  those  who 
would  wean  you  from  her  dear  affection. 

And  as  this  emblem  which  now  is  given  to 
you  hangs  no  longer  in  a  Kentucky  doorway, 
by  this  token  you  shall  know  that  all  Ken 
tucky  doorways  are  open  at  your  approach. 
By  the  relief  your  skill  has  wrought;  by 
the  griefs  your  great  heart  has  healed ;  by 
the  sunshine  you  have  thrown  across  her 
thresholds;  hy  the  honor  your  fame  has 
brought  her ;  bj'  the  fountains  of  your  wisdom 
at  which  your  loving  children  within  her  bor- 
ders have  drunk,  the  people  of  Kentucky  shall 
ever  open  to  your  their  hearts  and  homes, 

DR    gross's    reply. 

I  am  much  overcome,  gentlemen  of  the 
Kentucky  State  Medical  Society,  by  this  mark 


4i: 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOUKNAL. 


of  your  approbation.  I  am  not  the  great  man 
yonv  speaker  has  declared  me  to  be,  but  J 
gi'atet'ully  appreciate  tlie  feelings  that  have 
l^rompted  his  words.  I  claim  to  be  but  an 
eai-nest  follower  of  surgery,  who  during  a 
period  which  has  now  extended  bejond  a 
half  a  century,  has  striven  to  the  best  of  his 
abilitj'  to  grasp  its  truths  and  to  extend  the 
beneficence  of     its     offices,     I  am  not  to  be 


and  much  of  the  fruition  of  its  hopes.  To  the 
warm  hearts  of  the  many  friends  it  M'as  my 
good  fortune  to  secure  within  these  borders 
do  I  owe  it  that  those  struggles  were  cheered 
and  regards  beyond  my  deserts  were  secured. 
I  take  this  emblem  now  oiJered  me  as  the 
most  vah^ed  gift  of  my  life.  It  shall  be  re- 
ceived into  my  hoaue  as  a  household  god,  en- 
vironed by  all  the  memories  of  goodness  and 


DOCTOR  RICHARD  O.  COWLING 

1839—1881 


placed  by  the  side  of  ilcDowell,  for  what  1 
may  have  done  in  our  art :  but  if  this  reward 
be  a  measure  of  the  appreciation  I  hold  of  the 
good-will  of  the  people  in  this  Commonwealth, 
I  may  claim  it  for  that. 

The  years  of  my  life  which  I  passed  in  Ken- 
tucky represent  the  most  important  era  in  my 
career.    Thev  witnessed  manv  of  its  struggles 


greatness  to  which  your  speaker  has  referred, 
and  above  all  recalling  this  scene.  Dying  I 
shall  beqiieath  it,  among  my  most  important 
])ossessions,  to  the  family  that  I  may  leave,  or 
in  failure  of  that,  to  be  presented  to  the  arch- 
ives of  some  society. 

I  thank  j^ou  again,  gentlemen,  and  I  wish 
I  were  able  to  tell  you  better  how  much  I 
thank  vou. 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL'S     OF    KENTUCKY. 


43 


ADDRESS    OP    PROFESSOR    LEWIS    A. 
SAYRE,  M.  D. 

PRESIDENT  OP  THE  AMERICAN  MEDICAL  ASSOCIA- 
TION  WHEN  THE  MONUJIENT  WAS 
DEDICATED. 

No  word  from  me  can  add  a  single  laurel 
to  the  crown  of  the  immortal  McDowell,  whose 
history  and  services  to  mankind  have  been  so 
beautifully  and  truthfully  portrayed  by  the 
distinguished  orator  of  the  evening,  the  Nestor 
of  American  surgery.  Prof.  Gross.  In  fact, 
any   remarks  from  me  in  my  individual  ca- 


tion to  the  memory  of  Ephraim  McDowell, 
who  has  contributed  more  to  the  alleviation  of 
human  suffering  and  the  prolongation  of  hu 
man  life  than  any  other  member  of  the  med- 
ical profession  in  the  nineteenth  century.  We 
can  scarceh'  comprehend  the  greatness  of  this 
man's  mind,  and  the  truly  wonderful  genius 
of  McDowell,  until  we  stop  to  consider  who  he 
was,  what  he  did,  and  when  and  where  he  did 
it.  A  village  doctor  in  the  backwoods  frontier, 
surrounded  by  Indians  and  the  buffalo,  al- 
most beyond  the  bounds  of  civilization,  with 
no  books  to  refer  to,  with  no  precedent  to 
guide,  with  no  one  to  consult  but  his  own  uu- 


DOCTOR  LEWIS  A:  SAYRE 

1820-1900 


pacity  would  seem  almost  inappropriate,  but 
in  my  official  capacity  as  President  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  it  is  my  duty 
as  well  as  my  pleasure  to  bring  to  the  monu- 
mental shrine  the  ovations  of  the  entire  med- 
ical profession  of  these  United  States.  And, 
Sir,  I  venture  here  the  prediction  that  in  all 
times  to  come  the  intelligent  surgeons,  either 
in  person  or  in  thought,  from  every  part  of 
the  civilized  globe,  will  wander  here  to  Dan- 
ville to  pay  their  respects  and  sense  of  obliga 


aided  judgment,  with  no  one  to  share  the  re. 
sponsibilit.y  if  unsuccessful  unaided  and 
alone  assumes  the  responsibility  of  removing 
a  disease  which  up  to  that  time  had  been  con- 
sidered absolutely  incurable.  Think  for  a  mo- 
inent  what  would  have  been  the  result  of  fail- 
ui-e — a  coroner's  jury,  and  a  verdict  of  will- 
ful murder,  which  at  that  time  would  have 
been  pronounced  correct  hy  the  entire  medical 
profession  throughout  the  civilized  globe. 
All  this  he  dared  and  did  assume,  because  his 


44 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


clear  iiiteilect  had  reasoued  out  his  plau  ot 
pioceuure,  and.  Jiis  careiul  uisseeiioiis  liau 
j^iomieu  uut  10  liim  llie  jjatu  to  victory.  Auu 
Jiow  every  imeiiigeiit  surgeon  :n  tue  woriu  is 
Xierloriniijg  tlie  operaiion  as  occasion  requires, 
uiicii  ai  lue  present  time,  as  i-'r.  inoiiicis  Uas 
siaiea,  lony  tnousana  years  have  aireauy 
been  auuea  to  tue  sum  total  ot  human  lile  Ijy 
tJus  one  uiscovery  oi  i^jpnraim  JicUowell. 

Anoi]ier  lact  scriKes  ine  very  toreibly,  ^Ir. 
Presiaeut,  and  tuat  is  tue  heroic  ciiaracter  ot 
the  woiuau  wUo  permitted  tuis  experimental 
oijei-atiou  to  be  periormea  upon  her.  Tiie  \vo- 
luen  ot  KentueJiy  in  that  period  oi:  her  early 
lustory  were  heroic  ana  courageous,  ace  us- 
tomeU  to  brave  the  dangers  of  tne  tomahawk 
ana  scalpmg-Jmite,  ana  had  more  seii-reli- 
auee  ana  true  heroism  than  is  generally  touna 
iu  the  more  retiuea  society  oi  city  lue ;  ana 
hence  the  courage  of  ^Mrs.  Crawford,  who,  con- 
scious tuat  deatn  was  mevitaule  from  tue  ais- 
ease  ■with  which  she  suifered,  so  soon  as  tliis 
village  aoctor  explainea  to  her  his  plan  ol 
ahoraiug  her  relief,  ana  couvmcea  her  juag- 
meut  that  it  was  feasible,  immediately  repliea, 
■■Doctor.  I  am  read}-  for  the  operation;  please 
proceea  at  once  ana  perform  it. ' ' 

All  honor  to  -Mrs.  Crawford !  Let  her  name 
and  that  of  Ephraim  JMcDowell  pass  down  in 
history  together  as  the  founders  of  ovariot- 
omy. 

Kentucky  has  many  things  to  boast  of  in 
climate,  soil,  and  magnificent  forests  of  oak 
carpeted  with  her  native  hluegrass,  far  sur- 
passing in  beauty  and  grandeur  the  most  ele- 
gauth'  cultivated  parks  of  England.  She  is 
famed  for  her  beautiful  and  accomplished  wo- 
men: she  is  renowned  for  her  statesmen,,  her 
ci'ators,  and  her  jurists:  her  Clays,  her  John- 
sons, her  ^Yickliffes,  her  Crittendens,  her 
jNLarshalls,  her  Shelbys,  her  Prestons,  her 
Breckiuridges,  and  a  host  of  others;  but  no 
name  will  add  more  to  the  luster  of  Iter  fame 
than  the  one  whose  name  we  this  day  com- 
memorate by  erecting  this  monument  to  Eph- 
raim McDowell,  the  ovarictomist. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

LETTERS  OF  REGRET  FROM   DISTINGUISHED   MEM- 
BERS OF  THE  PROFESSION  WHO  COULD  NOT 
ATTEND  THE  DEDIC.A.TION. 

L.  S.  McMurtrij.  M.  D.,  Chainnayi  McDowell 
Moiiiiiiwnt  Committee : 

Dear  Sir : — I  thank  you  very  much  for  j'our 
iiivitation  to  attend  the  meeting  coiuiected 
with  the  .McDowell  monument,  aud  I  deeply 
regret  that  I  am  unable  to  leave  London  at 
jiresent. 

It  would  give  me  extreme  pleasure  to  be 
present  at  so  interesting  a  ceremony,  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  so  many  of  my  American 
professional  brethren,  and  to  show  my  respect 


to  the  memory    of    ■'the  Father  of  Ovariot- 
omy. " ' 

1  shall  hope  iu  some  future  year  to  visit 
your  great  couutiy  again,  and  to  see  the  mon- 
ument you  have  raisea  over  the  grave  of  Jic- 
Dowell.  Very  sincerely, 

T.  Spencer  Wells. 
o  Upper  Grosvenor  Sti'eet,  Lonaou  \V.,  April 

2i,  1879. 


L.  S.  McMurtrij,  (jimu  man  McDowell  Monu- 
ment Committee : 

Dear  fciir: — 1  regret  that  it  is  not  in  my 
porter  to  renew  tne  pleasure  of  a  foriuer  visit 
to  ixentucJi}'  ana  taKe  part  m  tUe  exercises  at 
tbe  aeaicaiion  oi  tne  JicUoweli  monument,  ai 
least  so  lar  as. to  be  a  sympatuetic  listener  to 
all  tne  eloquence  wnicn  tue  occasion  will  call 
forth. 

i  feel  a  personal  interest  in  the  surgical 
conquest  wUicU  is  to  be  commemoratea  m  aa- 
aiiion  to  that  wnicli  ail  tne  woria  recognizes. 
Among  the  birtns  of  the  century  tuis  is  a 
twin  u'lth  myself.  Dr.  xUcDoweu  s  hrst  opera- 
tion aates  from  the  same  year  as  tUat  m 
\vmch  i  ILrst  mhalea  the  slow  poison  tnat  en- 
velops our  planet,  tne  effects  ox  wmcU  i  nave 
so  long  survivea.  i  thanji  Cioa  that  itie  otuer 
twin  will  long  outlive  me  ana  m.v  memory; 
carrying  the  ugiit  of  lite  into  the  suaaows  of 
impenuing  aoom,  tUe  message  oi  hope  into  tue 
dariv  realm  of  aespair ;  opening  tne  prison  to 
them  that  are  bouua  anu  giving  tueiU  oeauty 
for  ashes,  tne  beauty  of  a  nert'-uorn  existence 
eveu,  It  may  be,  as  i  have  out  recently  seen  it, 
of  youthttU  ana  hapjjy  maternity  in  piace  oi 
the  ashes  for  whieu  tne  inevitable  urn  seemed 
already  waiting. 

I  am  glad  that  this  great  achievement  is  to 
be  thus  publicly  claimed  for  American  sur- 
gery. Our  trans-Atlantic  counsms  have  a 
microphone  u-hicli  enables  tliem  to  hear  the 
lightest  footsteps  of  their  owu  diseoverei-s  and 
inventors,  but  they  need  a  teiepucne  "irith  an 
eart-trumpet  at  their  end  of  it  to  make  them 
hear  auvlhing  of  that  sort  from  our  side  of 
the  water.  There  is  another  kind  of  trumpet 
they  do  not  always  find  themselves  uuprond- 
ed  with,  as  those  wlio  remember  Sir  James 
Simpson's  astonishing  article,  ■'Chloroform," 
in  the  eighth  edition  of  the  Eucyclopedia 
Britannica,  decently  omitted  and  ignored  in 
the  ninth  edition  of  the  same  work,  do  not 
need  to  be  reminded. 

If  there  was  one  who  could  dispute  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell's claim  to  be  called  "the  Father  of 
Ovariotomy"  it  would  have  been  our  own  Dr. 
Nathan  Smith,  our  own  and  your  own  too,  for 
he  also  was  born  and  lived  and  died  on  the 
sunset  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  within  the 
starry  circle  which  holds  us  all.  Dr.  Smith 
performed  the  operation  of  ovariotomy  with 
success  early  in  the  century,  but  unfortunate- 


MEDICAL     PIONEEI.'S     OF    KENTUCKY, 


45 


ly  there  is  no  record,  so  far  as  I  know,  of  the 
exact  date.  I  allude  to  this  fact  not  to  invali- 
date Dr.  jMcDowell's  claim,  for  an  undated 
case  can  not  do  it,  but  to  couple  with  his  name 
as  at  least  next  in  priority  that  of  another 
native  American  practitioner  worthy  of  com- 
panionship with  the  greatest  and  best. 

A  single  thought  occurs  to  me  which  may 
help  to  give  this  occasion  something  more  than 
professional  significance.  Although  our  po- 
litical independence  of  the  mother  country  has 
been  long  achieved,  our  scientific  and  literary 
independence  has  been  of  much  slower 
growth. 

And  as  we  read  the  inscription  on  this 
monument,  let  us  gratefully  reimember  that 
every  bold,  forward  stride  like  this  grand 
triumph  of  American  science,  skill,  and  moral 
courage,  tends  to  bring  us  out  of  the  present 
period  of  tutelage  and  imitation  into  that 
brotherhood  and  self-reliance  which  should 
belong  to  a  people  no  longer  a  colony  or  a 
province,  but  a  mighty  nation. 

I  am,  dear  sir. 

Yours  very  tnily, 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes. 

Boston,  May  9,  1879. 


L.  S.  McMurtry.  Chairman  McDoivell  Monu- 
ment Go'mmittee: 

My  Dear  Sir: — It  is  with  extreme  regret 
that  I  find  myself  prevented  from  accepting 
your  kind  invitation  to  take  part  in  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  monument  to  the  "Father  of 
Ovariotomy."  Although  absent  in  body  let 
me  assure  j'ou  that  I  shall  be  present  in  spirit. 

Kentucky  cherishes  the  memory  of  many 
noble  sons,  but  nowhere  in  her  annals  can  she 
point  to  a  name  more  deserving  of  her  pride 
than  that  which  adorns  the  monument  erect- 
ed to  commemorate  McDowell's  glory. 

Others  have  given  her  the  proud  records  of 
the  w^arrior,  the  statesman,  the  philosopher, 
and  the  philanthropist.  McDowell,  favored 
by  God  above  other  men,  has  already  bestow- 
ed upon  humanity  more  than  forty  thousand 
years  of  active  life,  and  insured  for  the  future 
results  which  will  surely  dwarf  those  of  the 
past. 

The  noble  tribute  which  you  erect  in  his 
honor  will  last  long,  but  it  will  crumble  into 
dust  and  be  scattered  abroad  by  the  winds, 
while  his  memory  will  continue  -to  live  green 
and  vigorous  in  the  hearts  of  a  grateful  pos- 
terity. 

With  sentiments  of  sincere  regard,  I  am 
dear  sir.  Yours  very  truly, 

T.  Gaillard  Thomas. 

294  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York,  May  1,  1879. 


L.  8.  McMurtry,  Chairman  McDoivell  Monu- 
ment Committee: 
Dear  Doctor : — 1  have  much  pleasure  in  ac- 


knowledging receipt  of  the  invitation  to  at- 
tend the  memorial  occasion  in  honor  of  "the 
Father  of  Ovariotomy."  Unfortunately  for 
me  some  professional  duties  here,  wnicu  can 
not  in  any  way  be  postponed,  will  compel  my 
return  liome  trom  Atlanta  imimediately  after 
the  adjournment  of  the  American  iieciical  As- 
sociation. 

It  is  well  in  the  name  of  American  surgery, 
and  in  the  name  of  a  common  philantnropy, 
that  this  honor,  though  tai'dy,  should  be  paid 
to  the  memory  and  fame  of  hiphraim  Mc- 
Dowell. 

I  cannot  but  think  of  the  fact  that  the 
erection  of  the  monument  is  largely  due  to  the 
original  suggestion  and  active  etforts  of  one 
who  recently  passed  away  from  earth  before 
he  had  reached  the  noon  of  his  power  and 
reputation,  one  who  was  esteemed  and  admir- 
ed by  every  physician  North,  South,  East  and 
West.  The  monument  will  tell  not  only  of 
' '  the  Father  of  Ovariotomy, ' '  but  also  of  John 
D.  Jackson. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly ,Y 
Theophilus  PakviN; 

Indianapolis,  Ind.,  May  1,  1879. 

L.  S.  McMurtry  M.  D.,  and  Others  of  the  Mc- 
Dowell Monument  Committee: 

Gentlemen: — Your  kind  invitation  to  at- 
tend the  dedication  of  the  McDowell  monu- 
ment is  just  received,  for  which  I  beg  leave  to 
return  my  thanks,  and  the  assurance  of  my 
sincere  regret  that  I  shall  be  prevented  from 
taking  part  in  the  interesting  ceremonies. 

The  occasion  is  one  of  extraordinary  im- 
port, in  that  it  is  the  first  and  only  instance  in 
the  history  of  the  United  States  that  such 
honors  have  been  paid- to  the  memory  of  a 
physician;  and  secondly,  that  the  virtues 
\vhieh  it  is  proposed  to  perpetuate  in  the 
monument  were  consecrated  to  the  saving  of 
human  life  and  the  mitigation  of  human  suffer- 
ing. Of  the  man  Ephraim  McDowell  -we  know 
comparatively  little,  but  of  the  great  orig- 
iual  ovariotomist  no  one  at  all  concerned  in 
tlie  progress  of  surgery  can  be  ignorant.  As 
a  Kentuekian  no  less  than  as  a  surgeon  1  have 
always  felt  the  deepest  interest  in  his  history, 
and  have  sought  in  his  life  and  surroundings 
to  penetrate  to  the  origin  of  the  great  thought, 
and  still  greater  courage,  that  gave  expression 
to  the  thought  which,  without  the  sanction  of 
precedent,  and  unaided  by  the  advice  or  sym- 
pathy of  others,  culminated  in  the  institution 
of  an  operation  by  'which  thousands  of  women 
heretofore  doomed  to  early  death  now  live  to 
bless  his  name. 

But  who  can  discover  and  open  the  secret 
door  which  hides  from  profane  view  the 
sacred  laboratory  of  genius?  Or  who  can 
trace  the  footsteps  of  the  inspired  discovei'er 
as  he  works  his  narrow  way  out  to  the  con- 


46 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNjLL. 


lines  of  liuiuan  exjjerience.  and  with  purged 
eye  looks  into  the  mysteries  which  lie  beyond '.' 
All  that  we  can  do  is  to  cheer  on  with  our 
■words  of  encouragement,  and,  when  the  work 
is  done,  with  willing  hands  distribute  its  bene- 
fits to  those  who  are  in  need,  never  forgetting 
to  pronounce  a  blessing  upon  the  author.  In 
this  spirit  of  humble  reverence  I  bow  my 
bared  head  Itefore  him  whom  you  this  day  ex- 
alt in  the  sight  of  the  whole  world  as  one  of 
its  gi'eatest  benefactors,  and  proclaim  by  your 
act  that  the  highest  and  noblest  ambition  of 
the  physician  should  be  the  saving  oi'  human 
life.  Who  is  there  since  the  days  of  Jenner,  who 
can  in  this  respect  compare  with  the  "back- 
woods surgeon  of  Kentuckj-?"  I  would  not 
derogate  in  the  slightest  degree  fi-om  the  de- 
served honor  which  belongs  to  many  who  have 
followed  their  profession  with  equal  zeal  and 


EPHKAI.M  :\rcDOAVELL.* 

By  I.EWis  S.  .AIc-MuRTRY,  :\I.  D.,  L.L.  D.. 
Louisville. 

It  is  most  oppropriate  that  in  this  one  hun- 
dreth  year  since  ilcDoweU's  epoch-makin? 
work  this  society,  foiinded  by  his  followers  in 
America,  should  celebrate  his  achievement 
and  thereby  keep  afresh  in  the  professional 
mind  the  source  and  origin  of  a  great  depart- 
ment of  surgery. 

No  conception  of  Ephraim-  McDowell's 
character  and  personality  could  be  more  re- 
mote from  the  truth  than  that  lie  was  a  rude, 
liut  courageous,  backwoodsman,  who  by  acci- 
dent or  mishap  undertook  an  unti-ied  feat  in 
surgery  and  succeeded  in  spite  of  a  disregard 
of  all  surgical  rules  and  establislied  principles. 


CAMBUS  KENNETH 
THE  HOME  OF  DR.  McDOWELL,   NEAR  DANVILLE 


earnestness,  and  who  have  added  largely  to 
the  resources  of  the  healing  art.  but  in  the  in- 
scrutable wisdom  of  the  Creator  of  all  things 
it  has  not  been  given  to  any  other  single  la- 
borer in  the  field  of  medicine  and  surgerj'  up- 
on this  western  hemisphere  to  confer  so  great 
a  blessing  upon  the  human  race. 

All  honor  to  the  memory  of  Ephriam  ]Mc^ 
Dowell,  the  man  of  genius,  the  wise  and  heroic 
surgeon,  the  benefactor  of  his  kind."  "When 
the  granite  shaft  which  you  have  erected  to 
signalize  what  he  ^^as,  and  what  he  did  shall 
have  fallen  into  decay,  his  name  will  still  be 
perpetuated  by  the  many  lives  saved  through 
his  instrumentality. 

I  am.  gentlemen,  with  great  esteem,  your 
obedient  servant, 

T.  G.  TiicnvRDSON. 

New  Orleans.  :Mav  9.  1879. 


Let  us  for  a  moment  consider  his  origin  and 
preparation.  He  was  born  in  Rockbridge 
county,  Virginia,  on  -  the  eleventh  day  of 
3Iarch,  1771,  when  the  American  colonies  were 
i]i  the  agitation  preceding  the  revolution.  His 
fathei-,  Samuel  ilcDowell,  was  a  prominent 
man  in  Virginia  and  a  member  of  the  Assem- 
bly of  that  State.  In  17S2,  he  was  sent  by  the 
Legislature  a^  a  land  commissioner  to  Ken. 
tuclrv,  which  was  then  a  county  or  appanage 
of  Virginia.  A  year  later  he  was  appointed 
judge  of  the  District  Court  of  Kentucky  aurl 
removed  his  family  to  the  town  of  Dan^-ille 
where  the  sittings  of  the  court  were  held  and 
where    lie    resided    permanently    thereafter. 

*An  .iddress  delivered  before  the  .\.merican  Gynecological 
Societ.v  at  the  Centennial  Celebration  of  McDowell's  flrst 
Ovariotamj". 


MEDICAL     PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


47 


Ephraim  McDowell's  mother  was  Sarah  Mc- 
C!lu):g,  a  member  of  a  distinguished  Virginia 
family.  McDowell  was  a  product  of  that 
civilization  which  was  planted  on  the  Virginia 
coast,  and  from  which  came  Washington,  Jef- 
ferson, Richard  Henry  Lee,  Patrick  Henry, 
}>enjamin  Harrison,  Edmund  Pendleton, 
George  Mason  and  other  soldiers,  statesm.en, 
and  patriots  who  founded  this  great  republic. 
His  eai'ly  education  was  attained  at  the  class- 
ical seminary  at  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  the 
best  school  accessible  at  that  time.  After  com- 
pleting his  studies  at  the  seminary,  he  went 
to  Staunton,  Virginia^  and  following  the  cus- 
tom of  that  period  entered  upon  the  study  of 
medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Humphreys,  a 
graduate  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh  and 
a  practitioner  of  high  reputation.  In  1793-94 
he  attended  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
then  universally  regarded  the  most  famous 
centre  of  medical  education  in  the  world.  As 
fellow  students.  IfcDowell  was  associated 
there  with  Dr.  Samuel  Brown,  afterward  one 
of  the  founders  and  teachers  of  Transj-lvania 
ITniversity  at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  aiid  Dr. 
Hosack  and  Dr.  Davidge,  of  New  York,  all 
of  whom  subsequently  attained  eminence  iii 
the  profession.  As  far  as  we  know,  the  de- 
gree of  M.  D.  was  not  conferred  upon  him  un- 
til 1823,  when,  entirely  im solicited  on  his  part, 
the  University  of  Maryland  conferred  upon 
him  the  honorary  degree  of  M.  D.  The  Med- 
ical Society  of  Philadelphia,  at  the  time  the 
most  distinguished  of  its  kind  in  this  country, 
sent  him  its  diploma  in  1 807,  two  years  before 
he  performed  his  first  ovariotomy.  Thus  it 
will  be  seen  that  McDowell  had  attained  na 
tional  distinction  as  a  surgeon  before  he  un- 
dertook the  work  which  has  made  him  famous. 
VZhile  at  the  University  of  Edinurgli,  Mc' 
Dowell  attended  the  private  instructions  of 
John  Bell,  the  most  able  and  eloquent  of  the 
Scottish  surgeons  of  his  day.  That  portion 
of  his  lectures  describing  tumors  of  the  ovaries 
and  the  power  and  eloquence  with  which  he 
depicted  the  hopeless  fate  to  which  their  vic- 
tims were  condemned,  made  a  powerful  im- 
pression upon  his  auditor.  Indeed,  McDowell 
afterwards  stated  that  the  principles  and  sug- 
gestions at  this  time  enunciated  by  his  master 
impelled  him  sixteen  years  afterward  to  at- 
tempt what  was  considered  an  impossibility. 
In  1795  McDowell  returned  to  his  home  at 
Danville  and  entered  upon  the  p'ractiee  of  his 
profession.  Being  a  man  of  classical  educa- 
tion, coming  from  the  most  famous  medical 
school  of  the  world,  he  soon  easily  assivmed 
the  first  professional  position  in  his  loealitv, 
and  within  a  few  years  was  known  throiisrh- 
out  the  Western  and  Southern  States  as  the 
first  surgeon  of  his  entire  section  of  country. 
Indeed,  until  Dr.  Benjamin  W.  Dudlev.  of  Lex^ 
ington,  Kentucky,  came  into  the  field  Dr.  Mc 
Dowell  was  undisputedly  the   most   eminent 


surgeon  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  During  this 
time  his  practice  extended  in  every  direction, 
persons  coming  to  him  from  all  the  neighbor- 
ing States,  and  he  frequently  making  long 
journeys  on  horseback  to  operate  upon  per- 
son? whose  condition  would  not  permit  them 
to  visit  at  his  home.  As  far  as  is  known,  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  performing  every  surgical 
operation  then  practiced.  In  lithotomy  hs 
was  especially  successful,  and  was  known  to 
have  operated,  up- to  3828,  twenty-two  times 
witiiout  a  death.  •  He  operated  many  times 
for  strangulated  hernia,  and  did  successfully 
various  amputations  and  other  operations,  in- 
cluding tracheotomy.  We  must  remembei^ 
that  anesthesia  was  unknown  in  his  day. 
In  1809,  fourteen  years  after  he  began  the 


THE  FAMILY  CREST 


practice  of  his  profession,  McDowell's  oppor^ 
tunity  was  presented.  He  was  called  to  see  a 
Mrs.  Crawford,  living  sixty  miles  distant 
from  Danville,  who  was  supposed  by  herself 
and  her  physicians  to  be  pregnant  and  be- 
yond her  term,  with  most  seriou.s  complica- 
tions. After  careful  examination  he  pro- 
nounced the  case  to  be  one  of  ovarian  tumor; 
explained  the  hopeless  character  of  the  dis- 
ease ;  expressed  his  conviction  that  it  was  feas- 
ible to  undertake  its  removal;  frankly  an- 
nounced that  it  would  be  in  the  nature  of  an 
experiment,  but  an  experiment  that  was  prom- 
ising. In  a  word,  he  had  faith  in  himself  and 
his  resources,  which  inspired  confidence  and 
hope  in  the  patient.  Mrs.  Crawford  accepted 
the  profl'ered  aid  at  once,  and  in  a  few  days 
went  to  Danville,  sixty  miles  distant,  on  horse- 
back, where  the  operation    was    successfully 


48 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOVRNAL. 


performed  and  follo^\•ed  by  prompt  and  per- 
fect recovery. 

It  is  known  that  ]\IcDo\vell  had  an  excellent 
medical  library  for  that  time,  and  that  he  de- 
voted much  of  his  leisure  time  to  his  books, 
but  he  possessed  an  avei'sion  to  writing.  Like 
many  able  men  in  our  profession  of  the  pres- 
ent day.  he  was  absoi'bed  in  practice,  and  lit- 
erar.v  ^^•ork  of  every  kind  was  burdensome  to 
him.  ^loreover,  we  must  remember  that  he 
did  not  have  the  stimulus  of  the  daily  mail 
and  numerous  medical  journals;  also  that  no 
medical  society  was  in  existence  in  his  section 
of  the  coTintry.  Seven  years  elapsed  after 
the  operation  before  he  made  a  report  for 
piiblication,  during  which  time  he  had  operat- 
ed in  two  additional  cases,  both  followed  by 
recoveiy.  The  title  of  his  paper  is  "Three 
Cases  of  Extirpation  of  Diseased  Ovaries," 
and  his  description  of  the  symptoms  and  op- 
eration is  concise  and  clear,  describing  most 
essential  points,  but  without  any  minute  ac- 
count of  the  pathology-  and  daily  progress  af- 
ter operation.  That  he  was  inspired  by  the 
teachings  of  I^Ir.  John  Bell,  of  Edinburgh,  to 
undertake  the  operation  is  apparent  from  the 
fact  that  his  report  of  his  cases  was  forward- 
ed to  his  revered  master.  The  report  failed 
1o  reach  ^Fr.  Bell,  who  was  absent  on  account 
of  ill  health,  and  ^McDowell  prepared  another 
copy  and  forwarded  it  to  the  Echefic  Bever- 
t'lni  anrj  Avnhiiical  Review,  published  in 
Philadelphia,  where  it  appeared  in  the  issue  of 
October.  1S16.  The  brevity  and  disregard  of 
many  essential  details  which  characterized 
the  report,  exposed  McDowell  to  criticism., 
and  articles  sarcastic  and  incredulous  appear- 
ed in  the  Bepprfoni,  while  Dr.  .Tames  John- 
son, the  learned  editor  of  the  London  MrrJiro- 
Chhnirnirnl  Rrrinr.  expressed  outright  his 
disbelief  of  'McDowell's'  statements.  A  few 
years  aftei-ward  when  the  accuracy  of  the  re- 
ports had  been  verified  and  confinned  by  the 
report  of  additional  cases.  Dr.  Johnson  edi- 
torially acknowledged  his  error,  saying. 
"There  were  circumstances  in  the  narrative 
of  the  first  three  cases  that  raised  misgi^nngs 
in  my  mind,  for  which  uneharitableness  we 
ask  pardon  of  f^od  and  Dr.  ^IcDowell,  of  Dan- 
ville." 

In  October.  1819,  three  years  subsequent  to 
his  first  publication,  hf  published  in  the  same 
.iournal  two  additional  cases.  In  this  report, 
he  alludes  to  thp  several  criticisms  which  had 
appeared  resrarding  his  first  paper  in  these 
words-  "T  thought  my  statement  sufficiently 
explicit  to  warrant  any  siirgeon's  performincr 
the  operation  when  neeessaiy  without  hazard- 
ing the  odium  of  making  an  experiment,  and 
I  think  my  description  of  the  mode  of  oper- 
ating, and  of  the  anatomy  of  the  parts  con- 
cerned, clear  enough  to  enable  any  good  anat- 
omist, possessing  ihe  judgment  requisite  for  a 
surgeon,  to  operate  with  safety.     I  hope  no 


operator  of  am^  other  description  may  ever 
attempt  it.  It  is  my  most  ardent  wish  that 
this  operation  may  remain  to  the  mechanical 
surgeon  forever  incomprehensible."  If  we 
had  no  other  knowledge  of  ^IcDowell's  mental 
cast  and  surgical  ideals,  these  words  would 
stamp  him  as  a  surgeon  of  broad  and  elevated 
view,  with  lofty  conception  of  the  science  and 
art  of  surgery,  and  keen  appreciation  of  the 
advanced  ground  on  which  he  trod.  The  total 
number  of  ovariotomies  he  performed  is 
not  certainly  known.  Dr.  "William  A.  Mc- 
Dowell, his  nephew  and  piipil,  afterwards 
his  partner,  stated  that  the  total  number  of 
ovariotomies  done  by  Ephraim  McDowell  was 
thirteen,  with  eight  recoveries  and  five  deaths. 

Tlie  essential  points  of  ^McDowell's  opera- 
tive technique  are:  (1)  The  parietal  incision 
was  made  external  to  the  border  of  the  rectus 
muscle;  (2)  the  pedicle  was  Ugated  before 
opening  and  evacviating  the  cyst;  (3)  care 
was  observed  to  cleanse  the  peritoneum  ot 
fluids;  (4)  drainage  was  provided  by  bring- 
ing the  ligature  out  through  the  lower  angle 
of  tlie  incision  and  the  ligature  eliminated  in 
that  way-  (5")  the  operation  occupied  only 
twenty-five  minutes,  expedition  resulting  more 
from  the  absence  of  an  anesthetic,  doubtless, 
than  otherwise.  In  the  report  of  the  second 
caS'='.  he  says,  "I  laid  her  side  open."  In  the 
third  case,  he  adopted  the  median  incision, 
which  he  indicates  thus:  "I  changed  my  place 
of  opening  to  the  linea  alba."  In  all  his  cases 
he  ligatured  the  pedicle  befoi-e  separating  ad- 
hesions or  tapping  the  tumor.  In  the  third 
case  he  mentions  that  the  ligatures  were  not 
released  for  five  weeks,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  the  cord  was  taken  away. 

In  the  brief  report  of  his  first  ease.  Dr.  'Mc- 
Dowell failed  to  record  such  details  of  env- 
ironment, preparation,  and  after  treatment  as 
so  important  an  operation  should  have  receiv- 
ed. He  even  failed  to  record  the  room  or 
house  in  which  the  operation  was  performed. 
Either  tradition  or  imagination  has  depicted 
the  operator  fearlessly  doins-  his  work  while 
a  mob  gathered  about  his  house  threateninc; 
his  life  on  account  of  the  fancied  reckless 
hazard  of  life  in  attempting  an  untried  ex- 
periment. Having  been  born  and  reared  near 
Danville,  and  educated  there,  and  ha-^-in? 
known  some  of  TJcDowell's  contemporaries.  T 
am  «i;re  this  stoiy  is  pure  fiction,  without  anv 
semblance  of  facts  for  its  basis.  IMcDowell 
was  pei-haps  the  most  prominent  and  popular 
citizen  of  the  community',  commanding  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  all  classes,  and 
known  far  and  near  as  a  great  surgeon.  The 
house  in  which  ^Irs.  Crawford  underwent  op- 
eration and  remained  while  under  treatment  is 
not  known.  It  is  not  probable  that  such  an 
operation  was  done  In  the  doctor's  office:  but 


MEDICAL     PIONEEBS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


49 


more  probably  m  some  bedroom  prepared  for 
her  care  and  niTrsing  after  operation. 

]n  a  most  accurate  and  painstaking  sketch 
of  McDowell  by  the  late  Dr.  John  D.  Jackson, 
of  Danville,  he  states  that  in  1822  McDowell 
made  a  journey  of  several  hundred  miles  on 
horseback  to  the  Hermitage,  the  residence  of 
P]"esident  Andrew  Jackson,  near  Nashville, 
I'ennessee,  to  do  an  ovariotomy  in  the  case  of 
a  J'Irs.  Overton.  He  was  assisted  in  the  oper- 
ation by  General  Jackson  and  a  Mrs.  Priest- 
ly. Mrs.  Overton  recovered.  McDowell  was 
the  guest  of  General  Jackson  during  his  stay 
in  the  neighborhood.  Another  one  of  his  jja- 
tients  in  Tennessee  was  James  K.  Polk,  after- 
ward President  of  the  United  States,  upon 
whom,  he  did  lithotomy  when  the  patient  was 
fourteen  vears  of  age. 

la  1802,  Dr.  McDowell  married  Sarah,  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  Shelby,  Kentucky's  first 
and  greatest  governor,  a  soldier  and  states- 
man, with  whom  he  lived  imost  happily  and 
raised  a  family  of  two  sons  and  four  daugh 
ters,  only  three  of  whom  survived  him.  Mrs. 
McDowell  survived  her  husband  by  ten  years. 
Dr.  McDowell  was  nearly  six  feet  in  heigth, 
with  dark  hair  and  eyes,  and  possessed  of  ex- 
ceptional strength  and  endurance.  He  was 
dignified  in  bearing  and  possessed  a  command- 
ing presence,  but  quite  free  from  austerity. 
He  is  described  as  an  amiable  and  approach- 
able man,  with  abundant  cheerfulness  and 
good  humor.  As  a  citizen  he  took  an  active 
part  in  all  movements  for  the  welfare  of  the 
community.  He  was  especially  interested  in 
education,  and  contributed  liberally  of  his 
time  and  means  to  provide  educational  facil- 
ities so  much  needed  at  that  time.  He  was  a 
members  of  the  first  P>oard  of  Trustees  of  Cen. 
tre  College  of  Kentuelcy,  no'w  Central  Uni- 
versity of  Kentucky.  He  contributed  person- 
ally the  lot  upon  which  Trinity  Episcopal 
Church  in  Danville  now  stands.  In  his  fifty- 
ninth  year  while  in  the  full  vigor  of  life,  h.-^ 
was  seized  with  an  acute  fever  and  died  on 
the  twentieth  day  of  June,  1830,  after  a  brief 
illness. 

In  1852,  twenty-two  years  after  the  death 
of  Ephraim  McDowell,  Professor  Samuel  D. 
Gross,  then  a  resident  of  Louisville,  presented 
to  the  Kentucky  State  Medical  Society  a 
sketch  of  the  life  and  original  surgical  work 
of  the  first  ovariotoraist.  Professor  Gross 
brought  to  his  task  his  characteristic  accuracy 
and  thoroughness  of  investigation.  He  engag- 
ed in  a  laborioiTS  correspond  euee  with  the  fam- 
ily, relatives  and  contemporaries  of  McDow- 
ell, and  collected  all  available  knowledge  bear- 
ing upon  his  life  and  character.     This  sketch 


was  subsequently  incorporated  in  Gross' 
American  Medical  Biography,  published  by 
landsay  &  Blakiston,  of  Philadelphia,  in  1861. 
The  critical  investigations  by  Professor  Gross 
of  the  original  reports  of  various  operators, 
together  with  the  incontrovertible  testimony 
presented  as  to  McDowell's  priority,  placed 
McDowell's  claims  beyond  all  dispute  and  es- 
tablished firmly  his  position  as  the  originator, 
by  successful  accomplishment,  of  the  radical 
cure  of  ovarian  tumors  by  abdominal  section. 

In  1879,  the  Kentucky  State  Medical  So- 
ciety erected  over  the  grave  of  McDowell,  at 
Danville,  a  monument  to  perpetuate  his  name 
and  fame.  The  dedication  of  this  monument, 
on  the  fourteenth  day  of  May,  1879,  was  the 
most  imposing  event  in  the  annals  of  the  med- 
ical profession  of  Kentucky.  The  address  of 
the  occasion  was  delivered  by  Professor  Gross 
before  a  large  audience  composed  of  members 
of  the  State  Medical  Society,  officials  of  the 
State,  and  a  large  concourse  of  prominent 
citizens.  Upon  the  speaker's  stand  were  seat4 
ed  the  Governor  of  the  Comanonwealth,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  and  other  officials;  the 
president  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, Dr.  Lewis  A.  Sayre ;  the  venerable  Dr. 
Oilman  Kimball,  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  who  had 
]>erfoi"med  ovariotomy  nearly  three  hundred 
times ;  and  numerous  other  eminent  American 
surgeons.  Among  the  tributes  to  McDowell 
presented  on  this  occasion  were  letters  from 
Sir  Spencer  "Wells,  Oliver  "Wendell  Holmes,  T. 
Gaillard  Thomas,  Edmund  Randolph  Peaslee, 
Theophilus  Parvin,  and  others.  The  oration 
of  Professor  Gross  is  a  master-piece  of  bio 
graphical  literature,  quite  worthy  of  the  oc 
casion  and  its  distinguished  author.  The  oc- 
casion is  memorable  for  the  achievement  it 
celebrated,  and  memorable  for  the  poet  who 
put  it  in  verse.  Achilles  can  never  be  forgot- 
ten because  Homer  fixed  his  fame. 

Other  and  more  eloquent  speakers  will  tell 
you  of  the  struggles  of  McDowell's  followers 
in  America,  in  Great  Britain,  in  France,  and 
in  Germany.  The  work  was  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  courageous  spirits,  who  fought  on  in  the 
face  of  opposition  and  even  persecution  un- 
til the  dawn  of  the  Listerian  era  lighted  the 
way  to  the  present  proud  position  of  abdomi- 
nal surgery.  Pelvic  and  abdominal  surgery 
began  with  ovariotomy;  ovariotomy  began 
with  McDowell. 


11.    THE  TRANSYLVANIA  UNIVERSITY  GROUP 


FOREWARD 

THE     MEDICAL     DEPARTMENT     OP 
TRANSYLVANIA   UNIVEESITY* 

liy  RoBEKT  Peter,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Lexington. 

The  history  of  medicine  and  of  the  earliest 
nacdical  men  in  Kentucky  clustex's  around  the 
name  of  Transylvania  University. 

The  State  of  Virginia,  in  1780 — ^when 
''Kan-tnek-ee"     or     "Ken-tuckee."   as   this 


ary  of  learning.''  that  "might  at  a  fn- 
tni'e  day  be  a  valuable  fund  for  the  mai}ite- 
nance  and  education  of  youth ;  it  being  the 
interest  of  this  Commonwealth  always  to  pro 
mote  and  encourage  every  design  'which  might 
tend  to  the  improvement  of  the  mind  and  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge,  even  amongst  the  most 
remote  citizens,  whose  situation  a  barbarous 
neighborhood  and  a  savage  iatercourso 
might  otherwise  render  unfriendly  to  sci- 
ence." 

Three  years  thereafter,   1783,   when  Ken- 


TRANSYLVANIA  UNIVERSITY  MEDICAL  HALL 

Erected  in  1839.  Burned  in  1863.  Provision  seems  to  have  been  made  for 
the  medical  classes  in  the  first  University  building,  but  from  the  time  this  was 
destroyed  in  1829  until  the  construction  of  Medical  Hall,  above  shown,  in  1839, 
these  classes  appear  to  have  been  more  or  less  migratory  bodies,  lectures  and 
demonstrations  being  given  in  the  offices  of  individual  professors,  or  in  a  room 
provided  by  them  independently,  as  is  shown  in  the  context  and  in  the  picture 
of  Fairlawn. 


country  was  then  called,  was  only  a  little-ex- 
plored portion  of  that  State — placed  eight 
thousand  acres  of  escheated  lands  witliin  that 
county  into  the  hands  of  thirteen  trustees 
"for  the  purposes  of  a  public  school  or  semin- 

*The  medical  profession  of  Kentuclc.v  is  indebted  to  the 
Filson  Club  for  the  use  of  many  of  the  sketches  and  pictures 
in  this  group. 


tueky  had  become  a  district  of  Virginia,  the 
General  Assembl.v,  by  a  new  amendatory  Act, 
re-endowed  this  "public  school"  with  twelve 
thousand  acres  more  of  escheated  lands  and 
gave  it  all  tlie  privileges,  powers,  and  immun- 
ities of  "any  college  or  university  in  the 
State,"  under  the  name  of  "Transylvania 
Seminary." 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


51 


In  the  wild  and  sparsely  settled  country 
this  seminary  began  a  feeble  existence  under 
the  special  fostering  care  and  patronage  of 
the  Presbyterians,  who  were  tlien  a  leading 
religious  body,  aided  by  individual  subscrip- 
tions and  by  additional  State  endowments. 

The  Reverend  James  Mitchell,  a  Presby. 
terian  minister,  was  its  first  "Grammar  Mas- 
ter," in  1785.  In  1789  it  was  placed  under  the 
charge  of  Mr.  Isaac  Wilson  and  located  in 
Lexington,  with  no  more  than  thirteen  pupils 
all  told.  The  Reverend  James  Moore,  educat- 
ed for  the  Presbyterian  ministry  but  subse- 
quently an  Episcopalian,  and  first  Rector  of 
Christ  Church,  Lexington,  was  appointed 
"Director,"  or  the  first  acting  President  of 
the  Transylvania  Seminary,  in  1791.  He 
taught  in  his  own  house  for  want  of  a  proper 
seminary  building,  with  the  aid  of  a  small  li- 
biary  and  collection  of  philosophical  appar- 
atus,. This  library  and  apparatus  had  been 
donated  by  the  Reverend  John  Todd,  of  Vir- 
ginia, who,  with  other  influential  Presbyteri- 
ans, had  been  maiiily  instrumental  in  procur- 
ing the  charters  and  endowments  from  the 
Crenneral  Assembly  of  Virginia. 

The  offer  of  a  lot  of  STOund  in  the  town  of 
Lexington  to  the  trustees  of  Transylvania 
Seminary,  bj''  a  company  of  gentlemen  calling 
tliemselves  the  "Transylvania  Land  Com- 
pany," indxiced  the  trustees  to  permanently 
locate  the  s&m.inary  in  that  place  in  1793.  On 
that  lot,  the  first  school  and  college  building 
were  placed,  and  on  it  was  afterward  erected 
the  more  commodius  LTniversity  edifice  in 
which  taught  the  learned  and  celebrated 
President,  Doctor  Horace  Holley.  This  first 
University  building  was  destroyed  by  fire 
?Jay  9.  1829.  In  later  years,  1879,  this  old 
"College  lot"  was  beautified  and  improved  by 
tree-planting  and  otherwise  by  liberal  citizens 
of  Lexington,  moved  by  the  efforts  of  Mr.  H. 
H.  Gratz.  and  designated  first  "Centennial 
Park,"  and  afterward  "Gratz  Park,"  in 
honor  of  Benjamin  Gratz,  being  not  now  util- 
ised for  special  educational  purposes. 

With  limited  success  the  first  "Director  of 
Transylvania  Seminary"  taught  in  Lexing- 
iion  until  1794,  when  he  was  superseded  by 
the  election  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Mr. 
Hany  Toulmin  as  first  President  of  the  Semi- 
nary. 

This  gentleman,  a  learned  Unitarian  min- 
ister of  the  school  of  Doctor  Priestley,  and  a 
native  of  England,  resigned  the  Presidency  in 
1796,  and  was  Secretary  of  State  of  Kentucky 
under  Governor  Garrard. 

Intense  feeling  at  the  election  of  Mr.  Toul- 
min on  the  part  of  the  leading  Presbyterians, 
^\'ho  claimed  the  Seminary  as  their  own  pe- 
culiar institution,  caused  them  to  obtain  in 
1796  a  charter  from  the  Legislature  of  Ken- 


tucky, now  a  State,  for  a  new  institution  of 
learning  which  they  could  more  exclusively 
control.  This  was  the  ' '  Kentucky  Academy, ' ' 
of  wliich  the  Reverend  James  Blythe,  of  their 
communion,  was  made  President. 

On  the  establishment  of  the  Kentucky 
Academy  by  the  dissatisfied  Presbyterians  in 
1796,  an  active  rivalry  between  that  school 
and  Transylvania  Seminary  operated  to  the 
injury  of  both  institutions  as  well  as  to  the 
cause  of  education  in  general.  Therefore,  af- 
ter two  years  of  separate  existence  these  two 
institutions,  with  the  consent  of  the  trustees 
of  both,  were  united  in  1798  by  an  Act  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  Kentucky  into  one,  "for 
the  promotion  of  public  good  and  learning," 
under  the  title  of  Transylvania  Universiiy. 
The  consolidation  was  made  under  the  orig- 
inal laws  which  governed  the  Transylvania 
Seminary,  as  enacted  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  Virginia. 

Under  the  act  of  consolidation  of  December 
22,  1798,  this  University  was  organized  by 
the  appointment  of  Reverend  James  Moore, 
of  the  Episcopal  Church,  as  first  acting  Presi- 
dent, with  a  corps  of  professors.  And  now,  for 
the  first  time  in  the  Mississipi  Valley,  was  the 
effort  made  to  establish  a  medical  college. 

Early  in  1799.  at  the  first  meeting  of  the 
trustees  of  the  new  Transylvania  University, 
they  instituted  "The  Medical  Department" 
or  College  of  Transylvania,  which  subsequent- 
ly became  so  prosperous  and^o  celebrated,  by 
the  appointment  of  Doctor  Samuel  Brown  as 
Professor  of  Chemistry.  Anatomy,  and  Sur- 
gery, and  Doctor  Frederick  Ridgely  as  Pro- 
fessor of  TMateria  Medica,,  Midwifery,  and 
Practice  of  Physic,  Dr.  Brown  qualified  as 
Professor  October  26,  1799,  and  Doctor  Ridge- 
ly the  following  November, 

Dr.  Brown  was  authorized  by  the  Board  to 
import  books  and  other  means  of  instruction 
for  the  use  of  the  medical  professors  to  the 
amount  of  five  hundred  dollars,  a  considerable 
sum  in  those  days,  and  he  and  his  colleagues 
were  made  salaried  officers  of  the  University. 

A  Law  College  was  also  organized  at  this 
time  in  the  University  by  the  appointment  of 
Colonel  George  Nicholas,  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolution  and  member  of  the  Virginia  Con- 
vention, as  Professor  of  Law  and  Politics. 

The  annals  of  the  earlier  efforts  to  estab- 
lish medical  education  and  a  medical  college 
in  connection  with  Transylvania  University, 
the  first  in  the  whole  West  and  the  second  in 
the  United  States,  are  meager  and  unsatis- 
factory. 

As  already  stated,  the  first  Medical  Pro- 
f(^ssors  in  this  University,  Doctors  Samuel 
Brown  and  Frederick  Ridgely,  1799,  no  doubt 
taught  and  lectured  occasionally  to  such  stu- 


r.2 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


clouts  as  were  present.  The  files  of  the  old 
Keniuchy  Gazette  show  that  Doctor  James 
Fishbaek.  who  was  uiiauimously  appointed  to 
the  Chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine 
in  Trauf^ylvania  in  1805.  advertised  to  lecture, 
and  did  probably  lecture  on  these  subjects. 
But  he  resigned  in  1806.  Doctor  James  Over- 
ton, who  had  been  appointed  to  the  chair  of 
]\rateria  iledica  and  Botany  in  1809,  said  in 
his  letter  of  acceptance,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
reappointment  in  the  reorganization  of  the 
Jfedical  Faculty  in  1817,  that  he  "had  en- 
gagcd  for  some  time  in  giving  lectures  on 
Theory  and  Practice  in  this  town,"  etc. 

.\eeording  to  the  best  recollection  of  the  late 
Doctor  Coleman  Kogers,  for  a  long  time  before 
his  death  a  resident  of  Louisville,  the  Medical 
College  of  Transylvania  University  was  reor- 
ganized in  1815  by  the  appointment  of  the 
following  Faculty: 

Doctor  Benjamin  W.  Dudley,  Professor  of 
Anatomy  and  Surgery. 

Doctor  Coleman  Rogers,  adjunct  to  this 
chair. 

Dr.  William  H.  Richardson,  Obstetrics,  etc. 

Doctor  Thomas  Cooper,  Judge  Cooper,  of 
Pennsylvania  to  the  chair  of  Chemistry,  Min- 
eralogy, etc. 

Doctor  James  Blythe,  then  acting  Presi- 
dent of  the  University,  was  to  give  chemical 
instj'uction.  Doctors  Cooper  and  Rogers  did 
not  accept  this  appointment.  According  to 
Doctor  Rogers'  recollection  a  resailar  course 
of  lectures  was  not  delivered  by  this  Faculty, 
although  Doctors  Dudley  and  Overton  prob- 
ablv  bo^h  lectured  or  taught  "as  they  previ- 
ously had  done." 

Dr.  C.  C.  Graham  says:  "What  few  private 
students  there  were  in  Lexington  went  ft'om 
shop  to  shop,  at  that  day  doctors'  officers  were 
so  called,  anrl  got  three  onlv,  Dudley,  Rich- 
ardson, and  the  eccentric  Overton,  to  give  us 
a  talk." 

Dr.  Dudley's  own  recollection,  as  detailed 
to  the  present  writer,  was  also  that  he  and 
Doctor  Overton,  as  well  as  Doctor  Blythe,  lec- 
tured in  1815-lfi  to  about  twenty  students,  of 
whom  the  late  Doctor  Ayres  and  the  yet  si;r- 
viving  Nestor  of  Transylvania  graduates, 
Doctor  Christopher  C.  Graham,  of  Louisville, 
now  almost  a  centenarian,  were  in  attendance 
as  pupils.  "Very  little  can  now  be  ascertain- 
ed, from  existing  records,  of  the  character  of 
Professor  James  Overton,  Doetar  Christo- 
pher C.  Graham,  in  a  recent  letter  to  the 
writer,  gives  some  reminiscences  of  him  in  the 
followins:  language:  'Doctor  Overton  was  a 
small,  black-pved  man,  very  hypochondriacal 
and  sarcastic,  notoriously  so.  and  ^-et  quite 
chatty,  humorous,  and  agreeable:  telling  his 
class  manv  funny  thinsrs.  He  was  well  edu- 
cated for  his  dav  and  plumed  himself  especi 
allv  on  his  Greek."    Doctor  Overton  removed 


from  Lexington  to  Nashville,  Tennesspe,  in 
1818. 

The  late  Doctor  Ayres,  of  Danville,  and  lat- 
tcT'ly  of  Lexington,  informed  the  writer  that, 
in  1815,  Doctor  Dudley,  having  recently  re- 
turned from  Europe,  was  invited  by  himself 
and  other  medical  students  to  demonstrate  to 
tbein  in  anatomj'  and  surgery.  Learning  that 
he  would  lecture  to  them  if  a  class  were  form- 
ed, they  made  up  one  of  from  twenty  to  twen- 
t\'-five,  and  Doctor  Dudlej'  lectured  to  them 
ou  anatomy  and  surgery  in  "Trotter's  Ware- 
house," a  house  situated  on  the  southeast  cor- 
ner of  Main  and  Mill  streets.  opposite  the 
site  of  the  old  original  Lexington  block-house. 
In  the  next  winter,  he  recounts,  he  lectured  to 
about  fifty  or  sixty  students,  some  of  Avhora 
w'U'e  from  Ohio.  Doctors  Overton  and  Bly- 
the, one  or  both,  also  lectured  in  both  winters. 

This  may  be  said  to  be  the  real  beginning  of 
the  successful  career  of  the  Sledical  Depart- 
ment of  Transylvania  L^niversity,  and  of  that 
of  Doctor  Dudlev  as  a  medical  professor. 

The  Kenfucl-fi  Gazette  of  ilarch  10,  1817, 
contains  a  card  published  by  a  committee  of 
the  medical  students  of  Transjdvauia,  signed 
David  J.  Ayres.  Thomas  J.  Garden,  and 
Charles  TT.  Warfield,  committee  of  the  medical 
cla>5s.  headed  a  "Tribute  of  Gratitude,"  in 
■\vh.ich  they  retu.rn  grateful  thanks  to  their 
professors,  Doctore  B.  W.  Dudley,  James 
Overton,  and  the  Reverend  Doctor  Blythe,  for 
the  ability,  fidelity,  and  perseverence  with 
which  they  had  taught  them,  a  further  proof 
that  a  medical  session  was  held  in  the  Transvl- 
vania  School  in  1816-17, 

^Fanj''  circumstances  in  these  early  times  fa- 
vored  the  establishment  of  a  medical  college 
in  Lexington.  Not  only  had  that  city  beet! 
rccr.onized  for  many  years  as  a  great  center 
of  public  education  for  the  whole  State,  made 
so  by  the  location  in  it  of  the  State's  Univers- 
ity, "Transylvania,"  but  it  was  also  at  that 
time  the  great  metropolis  of  the  West.  The 
country  around  it,  though  fast  becoming  set- 
tled and  improved  by  enterprising  pioneers, 
had  not  as  yet  been  provided  with  roads  or 
good  means  of  communication  with  older  set- 
tlements. To  ascend  the  Ohio  River  and  cross 
the  Alleghany  Moimtaius  to  Philadelphia, 
where  the  only  other  medical  school  in  this 
coimtry  then  existed,  was  a  tedious  and  la- 
borious undertaking,  and  not  devoid  of  dan- 
ger. 

On  ]\rarch  2,  1816,  one  thousand  dollars 
were  appropriated  by  the  Trustees  of  Tran- 
sylvania and  placed  in  the  hands  of  Doctor 
Blythe  and  John  D  Clitiford  for  the  immedi- 
ate pui'chase  of  chemical  apparatus.  Doctor 
Blythe,  who  had  been  actiug  President  of  th'^ 
I'uiversity  up  to  this  time,  resigned  and  ac- 
cepted the  position  of  Professor  of  Chemistry 
in,  the  IMedical  Department. 

In  1817,  the  iledical  Faculty  was  further 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


53 


reorganized  by  the  appoiutmePit  of  tlie  cele- 
bi'ated,  talented  Doctor  Daniel  Drake  to  the 
chair  of  Materia  Mediea  and  Medical.  Botany. 
Hie  organization  was  then  as  follows : 

Doctor  Benjamin  W.  Dudley,  Professor  of 
Anatomy  and  Snrgery. 

Doctor  James  Overton,  Professor  of  Theory 
and  Practice. 

Doctor  Daniel  Drake,  Professor  of  Materia 
Mediea  and  Medical  Botany. 

Doctor  William  H.  Eichardson,  Professor 
of  Obstetrics,  etc. 

Doctor  James  Blvthe.  Professor  of  Chemis 
try,  etc. 

Doctor  Drake  has  stated  that  twenty  pupils 
attended  this  course  of  lectures,  and  the  de- 


and  returned  to  Cincinnati  at  the  end  of  this 
session,  returning  subsequently  in  1823  to  oc- 
cupy the  same  chair,  to  resign  it  again  in 
1827.  Professor  Eichardson  did  not  lecture 
this  session.  He,  not  having  yet  received  the 
degree  of  M'.  D.,  was  allowed  to  be  absent. 


DOCTOE   SAMUEL  BEOWN. 

By  EoBEET  Petek.  a.  M.,  M.  D.,  Ijexington. 

Tlie  first  Itfedieal  Professor  of  Transylvania 
l''n:Iversity  and  of  the  great  Western  country, 
was  born  in  Augusta,  Eockbridge  County, 
Virginia,  January  30,  1769,  and  died  near 
ITuntsville,  Alabama,  January  12,  1830.  He 
was  the  son  of  the  Eeverend  John  Brown,  a 


DOCTOR  SAMUEL  BROWN 
1769--1830 


gree  of  M.  D.,  was,  for  the  first  time  in  Lexing- 
ton, conferred  on  John  Lawson  McCullough, 
of  that  city. 

Each  professor  lectured  three  times  a-  week, 
and  his  ticket  was  fifteen  dollars.  During  this 
session  ill  feelings  arose  between  Doctors 
Dudley  and  Drake,  leading  to  the  duel  be- 
t ween  Doctors  Dudley  and  Eichardson  al- 
ready described. 

Doctor  Drake  resigned    his    professorship 


Presbyterian  ininister  of  great  learning  and 
piety,  and  Margaret  Preston,  a  woman  of  re- 
markable energy  of  character  and  vigor  of 
iiiind,  second  daughter  of  John  Preston  and 
Elizabeth  Patton.  He  was  the  third  of  four 
distinguished  brothers.  Honorable  John 
Bi-own,  Honorable  James  Brown,  Doctor  Sam- 
uel Brown,  and  Doctor  Preston  Brown. 

After  graduating  at  Carlisle  College,  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  had  been  sent  by  Ms  elder 


KENTVCKY    MEDICAL    JOUEXAL. 


brother,  he  studied  medicine  for  two  j'ears  in 
Edinburgh,  Scotland.  Doctor  Hosaok,  of 
New  York,  and  Doctor  Ephraim  ^IcDowell, 
of  Danville,  Kentucky,  were  of  the  same  class. 
Jvcturning  to  the  United  States,  he  commenc- 
ed practice  in  Bladensburg,  but  soon  removed 
to  Lexington,  Kentucky,  where  he  was  made 
Professor  of  Chemistry.  Anatomy,  and  Sur- 
gery in  Transylvania  University  in  1799,  as 
above  stated.  In  1806,  he  removed  to  Fort 
Adams,  ^lissi.ssippi,  where  he  married  Misa 
Percy,  of  Alabama.  Afterwards,  returning 
to  Lexington,  he  was  re-appointed  in  1819  to 
a  chair  in  the  Medical  Department  of  Transyl- 
vania, that  of  Theory  and  Practice.  Here 
he  was  a  distinguished  coUeaame  of  Professors 
E.  W.  Dudley.  Charles  Caldwell,  Daniel 
Drake.  William  Richardson,  and  James 
Bh^he  until  1825,  when  he  finally  left  Ken- 
tucky. 

Dr.  P>rown  was  a  man  of  fine  personal  ap- 
pearance and  mannei"s:  an  accomplished 
scholar,  gifted  with  a  natural  eloquence  and 
humor  that  made  him  one  of  the  most  fascin- 
ating lecturers  of  his  day.  Learned  in  many 
branches,  he  was  an  enthusiast  in  his  own  pro- 
fession, scrupulous  in  regard  to  etiquette,  and 
exceedingly  benevolent  and  liberal  of  his  time 
and  services  to  the  poor. 

Although  active  in  scientific  pursuits  he , 
left  no  extensive  work,  and  but  a  few  detach- 
ed writings,  to  perpetuate  his  fame.  His 
name  appears  among  those  of  the  contributors 
to  the  .American  Philosophical  Transactions, 
and  to  the  medical  and  seientifie  periodicals  of 
the  day.  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe. 
In  those  Transactions  and  in  Bruce 's  Jour- 
nal of  ^lineralog^-,  he  described  a  remarkably 
larse  nitre  cavern  on  Crooked  Ci'eek.  in  I\Iadi- 
son  Couuty.  now  Rockcastle  Courity.  Keii- 
tucky-.  In  this  and  in  a  subsequent  com.muni- 
eation  in  Volume  1  of  Siniman's  Journal  he 
described  the  process  of  nitre  manufacture  in 
eaves,  and  gave  the  best  theoin-  of  its  forma- 
tion, according  to  the  science  of  the  day.  In 
various  other  journals  he  described  several 
iiiterestiug  cases  which  occurred  in  his  own 
practice,  and  in  the  renowned  Medical  Logic, 
by  the  distinguished  Gilbert  Blane.  of  Lon- 
don, Doctor  Samuel  Brown,  of  Lexington,  is 
quoted  as  authority  for  a  certain  scientific 
fact.  "To  him  we  are  indebted  for  the  first 
inlroduetion  in  the  '^'est  of  the  Prophylactic 
use  of  the  cow-pox.  As  early  as  1802  he  had 
vaccinated  upwards  of  five  hundred  persons, 
when  in  New  Yo)-k  and  Philadelphia  physici- 
ans were  onl\-  just  making  their  first  expen- 
iiiental  attempts.  The  virus  he  used  was 
taken  from  its  original  source  the  teats  of  the 
cov.-,  and  used  in  Lexinsrton  even  before  Jen- 
ner  coidd  gain  the  confidence  of  the  people  of 
his  own  country." 

A  curious  anecdote,  illustrating  progi-ess, 
was  told  of    Doctor    Samuel    Brown  by  his 


nephew,  the  late  Orlando  BrowTi,  Esquire,  of 
Frankfort,  in  a  letter  to  the  present  M'riter: 

''I  remember  once  when  talking  of  calomel, 
lie  said  he  never  would  forget  the  first  dose 
of  it  he  gave  a  patient.  It  was  looked  upon 
as  'the  Hercules,'  and  he  used  it  accordingly. 
The  case  was  desperate  and  he  resolved  to 
venture  upon  calomel  and  give  a  strong  dose. 
He  accordingly  weighed  out  with  scrupulous- 
accuracy  four  gi-ains,  gave  it  to  his  patient, 
and  sat  up  all  night  to  watch  its  effects.  The 
man  got  well  and  the  Doctor  afterwards  used 
calomel  more  freely." 

"What  -^vould  he  have  thought  of  the  heap- 
ing tablespoouful  doses,  quickly  repeated  pro 
re  nata,  or  the  poitud  of  calomel  taken  in  a 
day,  and  survived,  which  characterized  the 
cholera  treatment  of  one  of  the  later  Pro- 
fessors of  the  Transylvania  School  ? 


DR,  FREDERICK  RIDGELY.* 

17.56—1824. 

By  Robert  Petek,  A.  il.,  31.  D.,  LexingtoTi. 

Of  a  weUknown  family  in  ^laryland,  and 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  early  phy- 
sicians of  the  "West,  studied  medicine  in  Dela- 
ware, and  attended  medical  lectitres  in  Phila- 
delphia. 

He  was  appointed  Surgeon  to  a  rifle  corps 
in  Virginia  when  only  nineteen  years  of  age, 
served  in  different  positions  as  Surgeon-Gen- 
eral in  General  Wayne's  army  in  1794.  and 
after  that  decisive  campaiam  was  ended  re- 
turned to  Kentucky^  in  1799,  and  was  made 
Professor  of  ^fateria  Mediea,  ^lidwifery,  and 
the  Practice  of  Physic  in  the  same  year  in 
the  ^fedical  Department  of  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity, at  th.e  first  organization  of  this  de- 
partment. 

V\^idely  known  as  a  successful  practitioner 
and  a  gentleman  of  great  benevolence,  disin- 
terestedness, and  affabilitv-,  he  was  also  one 
of  the  medical  preceptors  of  Kentuctv's  dis- 
tinornished  surgeon,  Benjamin  W  Dudley, 
aiid  for  many  years  gave  active  support  to 
Transvlvauia  I'niversity  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees.  In'l 799-1800,  he  deliver- 
ed to  tlie  small  class  of  medical  students  then 
ir.  attendance  a  course  of  ptiblie  instruction 
which  did  him  much  credit,  a  fact  of  peculiar 
interest,  "as  it  proves  him  to  have  been," 
with  his  able  colleague.  Doctor  Samuel 
Brown,  "the  first  who  taught  medicine  by  lec- 
ture in  Western  America."  He  died  at  the 
aire  of  sixtv-eiarht  at  Davton.  Ohio.  December 
21.1824. 

These  first  laedieal  professors  in  Transyl- 
vania Universit:.'  were  no  doubt  the  first  in 

*After  thp  most  patient  inouir.v  no  portrait  of  this  able 
man.  or  additional  facts  in  regard  to  his  life  and  work,  could 
be  obtained. 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTVGKY, 


55 


tJie  proDiotion  of  medical  education  in  the 
West.  Medical  and  Laiw  societies  were  soon 
establislied  and  were  in  active  operation,  as 
we  learn  from  the  columns  of  the  Kentucky 
Gazette,  published  at  the  time.  How  many 
pupils  thev'  attracted  and  taught  we  can  not 
now  definitely  ascertain. 

in  1801,  the  meager  existing  records  of  the 
Univei'sity  show  a  reorganization,  in  which 
the  Reverend  James  Moore,  who  had  been  re- 
placed in  1799  by  a  Presbyterian  clergy^man, 
the  Reverend  James  Welsh,  was  restored  to 
the  Presidency.  "Doctor  Frederick  Ridgely 
was  made  Professor  of  Medicine,  and  Doctor 
Walter  Warfield  was  made  Professor  of  Mid- 
wifery, in  addition  to  Doctor  Samuel  Brown." 
Doctor  Warfield,  a  physician  of  Lexington, 
did  not  long  occupy  this  chair,  and  appears 
not  to  have  lectured  in  it. 

In  1804,  the  Reverend  James  Blythe,  D.  D., 
of  tlie  Presbyterian  church,  who  had  been 
President  of  Kentucky  Academy,  was  made 
actiug  President  of  Transylvania  University, 
which  position  he  held  until  1816.  He  was 
subsequently,  in  1817,  under  Doctor  HoUey's 
administration,  appointed  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry, etc.,  in  the  Medical  Department.  This 
position  he  retained  until,  in  1831,  he  accept- 
ed the  Presidency  of  Hanover  College,  In- 
diana. 

Doctor  Blythe  died  in  1842,  aged  seventy- 
seen,  having  devoted  his  life  mainly  to  relig- 
ion :  having  been  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the 
Preshyterian  church,  in  Kentucky.  He  made 
no  distinguished  reputation  as  a  chemical  pro- 
fessor in  the  Medical  School,  for  chemistry 
in  those  days  had  few  advocates,  but  he  did 
good  service  in  the  University  as  a  teacher  of 
what  was  called  "Natural  Philosophy"  in 
early  times. 

The  ^Medical  College  of  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity seems  not  to  have  attracted  many  stu- 
dents in  tiiis  early  period  of  its  history,  nor 
were  its  means  of  instruction  or  its  organiza- 
tion complete. 

In  1805.  Doctor  Jaimes  Fishback,  D.  D.,  was 
made  President  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Physic  in  this  department.  He  was  charac- 
terized as  an  eloquent,  learned,  though  erratic 
divine ;  an  able  writer ;  a  physician  in  good 
]>ractice:  an  influential  lawyer,  and  an  up- 
right man.  He  was  the  son  of  Jacob  Fish- 
back,  who  came  to  Kentuckv  from  Yirginia  in 
17S3. 

He  resigned  this  chair  in  1806,  having 
given  lectures  to  such  small  medical  classes  as 
wei'C  present.  In  1808,  he  was  elected  Repre- 
sentative to  the  General  Assembly  of  Kentucky. 
In  181.3,  he  published  "The  Philosophy  of  the 
Mind  in  Respect  to  Religion,"  and,  in  1834, 
"Essays  and  Dialogues  on  the  Powers  and 
Susceptibilities  of  the  Human  Mind  to  Re- 
ligion."   He  was  also  preceptor  in  medicine, 


and  for  a  time  partner  in  the  practice,  of  the 
celebrated  surgeon,  Benjamin  "W.  Dudley. 
He  died  at  an  advanced  age  in  1854. 

An  effort  was  again  made  to  organize  a  full 
Faculty  and  establish  a  medical  school  in 
T]-ansylvania  University  in  the  year  1809, 
\\dien  Doctor  Benjamin  W.  Dudley  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  chair  of  Anatomy  and  Physi- 
ology, Doctor  Elisha  Warfield  to  Surgerj^  and 
Obstetrics,  Joseph  Buchanan,  A.  M.,  to  the 
Institutes  of  Medicine,  and  Doctor  James 
Overton  to  Materia  Medica  and  Botany.  But 
Doctor  Warfield.  resigned  in  the  same  year, 
and  Doctor  Buchanan  in  1810.  The  late 
Lewis  Rogers,  M.  D.,  of  Louisvile,  thus  men- 
tioned Doctor  Buchanan  in  his  inaugural  ad- 
di'css  as  President  of  the  Kentucky  State 
Medical  Society  in  1873 :  "He  died  in  Louis- 
ville in  1829 :  and  I  call  up  from  the  memories 
of  my  boyhood  with  great  distinctness  his 
slender  form,  massive  head,  and  thoughtful, 
intelligent  face.  He  was  a  man  of  great  and 
varied  powers  of  mind.  He  was  a  mechanical, 
medical,  and  political  philosopher.  His 
"spiral"  steam  boiler,  the  pi'ototype  of  the  ex- 
ploding and  exploded  tubular  boiler,  and  his 
steam  land-carriage  were  among  the  wonders 
of  the  day.  As  a  physician  his  papers  attract- 
ed distinguished  notice  from  the  medical 
savants  of  Philadelphia,  then  a  center  of  med- 
ical science." 

As  a  polilical  writer  he  ably  discussed  the 
most  weighty  problems  of  the  times,  he  being 
editor  of  the  Louisville  Focus.  Want  of  con- 
centration of  his  wonderful  mind  prevented 
I'lim  from  becoming  eminent  in  medicine  as  in 
other  pursuits  which  divided  his  mental  pow- 
ers. 

No  systematic  medical  instruction  seems  to 
have  resulted  from  this  imperfect  organiza- 
tion of  the  Medical  School  in  1809,  although 
occasional  lectures  may  have  been  delivered 
and  private  instruction  given. 

Doctor  Dudley,  after  having  graduated  in 
medicine  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
visited  Europe  in  1810,  spending  four  years 
in  Paris  and  London  in  the  arduous  pursuit 
of  medical  and  surgical  infonnation  and  ex- 
perience under  the  celebrated  teachers  of  that 
day.  Returning  then  to  Lexington  he  began 
a  career  as  a  practical  surgeon  and  teacher,  in 
which  his  name  became  distinguished  through- 
out the  civilized  world. 


56 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


A  ]\rE:\[OIR  OF  THE  LIFE  AND  WRIT- 
INGS OF  DR.  bexja:min  W. 
DUDLEY.* 

By  L.  P.  Yandei  T,,  :\[.  D..  Louisville. 

The  announcement  of  the  death  of  Dr.  B. 
W.  Diidley.  though  from  his  great  age  and  in- 
creasing infirmities  an  event  not  unexpected, 
Avili  he  read  with  feelings  of  sadness  bv  evei'y 
^Vnieriean  physician:  and  educated  surgeons 
in  eveiy  country  will  feel,  when  tliey  read  it, 
that  a  great  light  of  the  profession  has  gone 
Gi^it.  The  oldest  by  many  years  of  all  the  em- 
inent medical  men  of  the  West  and  South,  for 


our  surgeons  has  occupied  a  larger  space  in 
the  public  e.ye.  He  achieved  indeed  a  great 
reputation.  He  was  equally  distinguished  as 
a  surgeon  and  as  a  teacher  of  surgery.  His 
life  and  character  were  in  man.v  respects  re- 
markable, and  furnish  materials  for  a  memoir 
of  extraordinary  interest.  It  woiild  be  a 
pleasure  to  write  a  histoiy  of  his  professional 
career ;  and  one,  no  doubt,  will  be  written  in 
due  time  worthy  of  his  fame  and  services.  In 
the  limited  space  that  can  be  afforded  by  a 
journal  like  this,  nothing  more  can  be  at- 
terapted  than  a  brief  notice  of  the  more  prom- 
inent events  and  labors  of  his  life. 


DOCTOR  BENJAMIN  W.  DUDLEY 

178S--1870 


a  long  time  the  unrivaled  surgeon  of  the  ^lis- 
sissippi  Valley,  one  of  the  found.ers  of  the 
earliest  of  all  our  western  schools  of  medicine, 
he  was  the  last  remaining  Unk  between  the 
present  generation  of  physicians  and  that 
which  has  passed  away  with  him.  If  he  leaves 
behind  him.  any  superior  in  the  profession  of 
oiir  country,  it  is  certain  that  no  one  of  all 

•Read  at  a  meetinsrof  the  State  Medical  Soci«t.v  at  Bowling 
Green,  April.  1870. 


Dr.  Benjamin  Winslow  Dudley  was  born  of 
respectable  and  pious  parents  in  Spottsyl- 
vauia  county,  Virginia,  on  the  12tli  of  April, 
1785.  His  father,  the  Rev.  Ambrose  Dudley, 
long  known  as  a  leading  Baptist  minister  in 
Kentucky,  and  whose  memory  is  still  affect- 
ionately cherished  in  the  churches  where  he 
labored,  removed  from  Virginia  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Lexington,  into  what  was  then 
called  the  county  of  Kentucky,  when  tliis 
gifted  son  was  a  year  old.    In  that  neighbor- 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


57 


hood  his  long  life  was  passed.  He  grew  up 
with  the  beautiful  city  which  was  his  pride, 
and  of  which  he  was  always  a  favorite  son, 
TJie  opportunities  for  acquiring  an  education 
in  Kentucky  when,  he  was  growing  up  were 
limited,  and  it  is  not  known  that  he  enjoyed 
any  which  his  own  immediate  neighiborhooct 
could  not  furnish.  If  he  studied  any  language 
hut  his  own  at  school,  it  must  have  been  su- 
]iei-ncially,  for  he  made  no  pretensions  to  any 
knowledge  of  either  Greek,  or  Latin;  and  the 
]jerfeet  eomniand  of  the  French  which  he  is 
known  to  have  possessed  he  acquired  later  in 
life,  and  pi-incipallj'  when  he  was  abroad.  He 
was  prohalily  not  a  student,  and  it  may  be 
that  his  turn  of  mind  was  not  literary  in  early 
life.  But  certainly  his  education  was  not 
neglected,  and  the  training  which  he  received 
was  in  studies  which  fitted  him  well  for  a  life 
of  action.  No  doubt  in  subsequent  life  he  of- 
ten felt  painfully  the  want  of  those  classical 
attainments  which  in  the  public  mind  are  al- 
ways associated  with  a  x'i'ofPSisional  ediica- 
tion.  But  if  he  missed  the  grace  of  a  thor- 
ough education,  he  was  saved  from  the  temp- 
tation to  which  scholars  are  exposed,  of  wast- 
ing upon  vain  studies  those  powers  to  which 
he  devoted  with  so  much  success  to  matters  of 
practice.  He  had  not  to  reg'ret  at  the  end  of 
his  life,  with  the  learned  Grotius,  that  he  had 
consumed  it  in  levities  and  strenuous  inan- 
ilies. 

iledicine  being  the  profession  to  which  his 
taste  inclined  him,  he  was  placed  by  hifs 
father,  when  very  young,  under  the  tuition 
of  Dr.  Frederick  Ridgely,  an  eminent  phy- 
sician at  that  time  and  for  manj'  years  after 
in  a  large  practice  in  Lexington.  In  the  of- 
liee  of  this  excellent  instructor  he  was  not 
only  taught  the  elements  of  medicine,  but  had 
constant  opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted 
with  disease  at  the  bedside.  Dr.  Dudley  al- 
waj^s  spoke  with  warmth  and  esteem  of  his 
scholarly  and  urbane  preceptor,  as  a  physici- 
an whose  high  culture  of  mind  and  elevated 
moral  tone  reflected  dignity  upon  his  pro- 
fession. 

In  the  fall  of  1804  he  went  to  Philadelphia 
to  attend  medical  lectures.  He  met  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  among  the  students 
of  that  winter,  John  Eston  Cooke,  Daniel 
Drake  and  William  H,  Richardson,  names  des- 
tined afterward  to  be  associated  so  often  and 
so  closely  with  his  own.  The  coin-cidence  is 
interesting.  Two  of  these  students,  like  him- 
self, were  from  the  backwoods,  and  felt  as  he 
did  the  disadvantages  of  a  deficient  education. 
Richardson  had  been  reared  in  his  own  im- 
mediate neighborhood,  and  had  not  made 
himself  even  an  English  scholar,  Drake  by 
great  assiduity  had  already  supplied  many  of 
the  deficiencies  of  his  early  tuition,  but  knew 
no  language  except  his  own  mother-tongue. 
All  became  distinguished,     and    two    of  the 


three  who  were  with  him  in  that  class  rose  to 
an  eminence  liardly  exceeded  by  his  own.  At 
different  times  all  subsequently  were  associ- 
ated with  him  as  colleagues,  and  two  sustained 
to  him,  at  a  later  period,  the  relation  of  stren- 
uous competitors  in  rival  medical  schools.  But 
whether  working  harmoniously  together  in 
the  same  institution,  or  striving  to  build  up 
rival  schools,  all  were  engaged  in  shaping  the 
profession  of  medicine  in  the  frontier  states, 
and  will  always  hold  a  place  among  the  mosi 
useful  and  honored  of  its  pioneers. 

In  the  interval  between  the  lectures,  from 
Api'il  to  October,  Dr.  Dudley  engaged  in 
practice  with  Dr.  Fishbaek,  a  distmguishec! 
physician  of  Lexington.  At  the  close  of  his 
second  course  in  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania he  took  the  degree  of  M.  D.,  near  the 
end  of  March,  1S06,  just  two  weeks  before  he 
was  twenty-one  years  old.  Then  returning  to 
Lexington,  which  had  now  become  a  town  or 
note,  and  was  indeed  the  literary  and  com. 
Hiereial  emporium  of  the  West,  he  became 
again  a  candidate  for  practice.  But  he  seems 
not  to  have  entered  heartily  into  the  business. 
He  was  not  satisfied  with  his  professional  at- 
tainments. His  ambition  was  fired  by  his  as- 
sociations in  Philadelphia.  He  was  resolved 
to  qualify  himself  for  the  highest  position  in 
his  profession.  And  this,  ho  thought,  could 
only  be  done  by  studying  in  the  hospitals  and 
under  the  great  teachers  of  Europe.  His  en- 
ergies were  all  directed  to  the  accomplishment 
of  this  end,  and  with  the  view  of  acquiring 
the  requisite  means  he  added  some  commercial 
business  to  the  practice  of  physic.  On  some 
adventure  connected  with  trade  he  went  to 
New  Orleans  in  a  tiatboat  about  the  year  1810. 
Tliere  he  bought  a  cargo  of  flour  with  which 
some  time  in  that  year  he  sailed  to  Gibraltar. 
Disposing  of  his  cargo  advantageously  at  that 
j)oint  and  at  Lisbon,  he  made  his  way  through 
Spain  to  Paris. 

He  remained  nearly  four  years  in  Europe, 
and  the  larger  portion  of  that  time  was  spent 
in  the  French  capital.  Its  vast  hospitals  and 
dissecting-rooms  afforded  the  facilities  he  was 
iu  quest  of.  His  mind  craved  a  knowledge  of 
facts ;  and  though  the  fame  of  the  great  sur- 
geons of  London  and  Paris  had  inflamed  his 
ambition,  it  was  things  he  had  gone  abroad  to 
see  and  learn.  Diseases  in  their  varied  phe- 
nomena and  aspects,  operations  on  the  living 
subject,  the  minute  structure  of  the  human, 
body,  these  were  the  objects  of  his  study. 
Paris  furnished  them  in  amplest  measure, 
and  on  the  most  liberal  terms;  and  it  was  in 
Paris  undoubtedly  that  he  gained  that  perfect 
knowledge  of  anatomy  and  that  familiarity 
with  sm'gical  operations  which  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  his  siaccess  as  a  surgeon.  But 
though  acquiring  most  of  the  knowledge  which 
availed  him  in  future  years  through  the  in- 
stitutions of  Paris,  it  was  for  the  surgeons  of 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


London  that  lie  habitually  expressed  the  high- 
est adniiratioji,  Baron  Larrey  perhaps  except- 
ed. They  certainly  of  all  his  teachers  had  the 
largest  share  in  shaping  his  opinions  and 
molding  his  professional  character.  In  man- 
ners he  came  home  a  Frenchman,  but  in  med- 
ical doctrine  and  practice  he  was  thoroughly 
Ejiglish.  It  ^vas  impossible  that  he  should  not 
adjnire  the  great  military  surgeon  of  France, 
and  be  captivated  by  the  recital  of  his  won- 
derful experience.  The  memoirs  of  this  ex- 
traordinary man  fui-nished  him  indeed  with 
numberless  incidents  which  he  afterward  add- 
ed to  the  dramatic  interest  of  his  own  surgical 
lectures.  But  it  ^\•as  Abernathy  -nho  impress 
ed  him  as  the  leading  surgeon  of  Europe.  Sir 
Astley  Cooper  was  his  beau  ideal  of  an  opera- 
tor, but  Abernathy  he  always  quoted  as  the 
highest  authority  on  all  points  relating  to 
surgery,  as  at  ouee  the  observant  student  of 
nature,  the  profound  thinker,  and  the  sound 
medical  philosopher. 

The  j'ears  embraced  in  Dr.  Dudley's  stay  in 
Europe  belong  to  one  of  the  most  eventfid 
periods  in  the  histoiy  of  France,  a  period  as 
favorable  as  could  be  for  the  study  of  that 
branch  of  his  profession  to  which  he  was  speci- 
ally de^'oting  himself.  How  wisely  he  improv- 
ed those  fine  oportunities  is  best  attested  by 
the  perfect  masterj'  of  his  profession  which 
he  aftei'ward  exhibited  in  all  the  emergencies 
of  practice.  j_  ,  j§|^ 

It  was  while  pursuing  his  studies  in  Paris 
that  Napoleon  set  on  foot  his  gigantic  Russian 
campaign.  Having  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Caulaincourt,  the  Emperor's  trusted  minister, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  chamber  of  deputies 
on  the  occasion  of  Napoleon's  appearing  be- 
fore that  body  at  the  close  of  his  disastrous  ex- 
pedition. The  writer  has  often  heard  him  de- 
scribe the  scene  as  the  most  impressive  that  he 
had  ever  v.'itnessed.  The  Emperor's  address 
was  brief — "The  Grand  Ai-my  of  the  Empire 
is  Annihilated."  These  were  the  terrible 
Mords  with  which  he  commenced  it. 

In  the  summer  of  1814  he  returned  to  his 
old  home  at  Lexington.  He  returned  with 
high  aspirations,  and  with  a  consciousness  of 
superiority  given  by  his  advantages.  There  was 
now  no  longer  any  hesitation  in  his  move- 
ments or  diversion  of  his  mind  from  medicine 
l.y  foreign  pursuits.  His  profession  had  be- 
cctne  tlie  engrossing  object  of  his  thoughts, 
and  from  that  time  on  iintil  age  made  it  neces- 
sary for  him  to  relax  his  labors,  "he  applied 
himself  to  it  with  undeviating  fidelity.  I  am 
sure  I  have  never  known  a  physician  who 
made  himself  more  a  slave  to  his  profession. 
He  had  no  holidays.  He  sought  no  recrea- 
tion: no  sports  interested  him.  If  his  friends 
prevailed  on  him  to  quit  the  citj-  on  a  trip  of 
pleasure,  he  returned  to  his  business  rather 
wearied  than  refreshed  by  the  excursion.    His 


thoughts,  he  has  been  heard  to  say,  were  al- 
ways on  the  cases  he  had  left  behind,  and  not 
on  the  objects  or  the  amusements  around  him. 

Such  devotion  had  not  long  to  wait  for  its 
reward.  But,  apart  from  this  faithful  appli- 
cation to  Ijusiness,  there  were  other  circum- 
stances which  rendered  the  time  of  his  return 
peculiarly  auspicious  to  his  success.  Great  as 
were  the  western  states  at  that  day,  and  grow- 
ing, as  they  were,  dailj-  greater,  they  were 
still  ^^^thout  a  surgeon  of  note,  and  without 
a  medical  school.  Students  of  medicine  had 
then  to  cross  the  mountains,  or  practice  with 
out  a  diploma  on  the  knowledge  derived  from 
attendance  on  lectures.  Dr.  Dudley  soon  gave 
assurance  of  his  aliility  to  meet  both  of  these 
public  wants.  With  his  consummate  knowl- 
edge of  anatomy,  and  the  skill  he  had  attain- 
ed in  the  use  of  the  knife,  he  was  not  long  in 
acquiring  national  reputation  as  a  surgeon; 
and  when,  a  short  time  after  his  return,  the 
project  of  reviving  a  school  of  medicine  began 
to  be  agitated,  public  opinion  pointed  at  once 
to  him  as  its  head.  Added  to  these  influences, 
which  gave  him  early  distinction,  another  eir- 
cu'jistance  favored  liis  immediate  introduc- 
tion into  practice.  He  found  a  disease  pre- 
senting some  strange  featui-es  prevailing  in 
the  countrj^  when  he  reached  home.  Traces 
of  the  typhoid  pneumonia  which  had  just 
swept  across  the  continent  were  to  be  seen 
e^-erywhere  in  Kentuclsy'.  The  fatal  epidemic 
had  given  place  to  a  bilious  fever,  character- 
ized, like  the  plague,  by  a  tendency  to  local 
affections.  Abscess  formed  among  the  mu.s- 
cles  of  the  body,  legs,  and  arms,  and  were  so 
intractable  that  limbs  were  sometimes  ampu- 
tat^'d  to  get  rid  of  the  evil.  Arri^-ing  in  the 
midst  of  so  alarming  an  epidemic.  Dr.  Dudley 
was  not  long  without  calls.  His  attention 
while  abroad  had  been  specially  directed  to 
the  bandage  as  an  agent,  among  other  things, 
for  controlling  ulcers  of  the  extremities.  It 
at  once  occurred  to  him  that  this  appliance 
was  adapted  to  the  treatment  of  the  burrow- 
ing abscesses  with  which  he  was  contini;ally 
meeting.  The  efficiency  of  the  bandage,  no^' 
recognized  by  every  surgeon,  was  at  that  time 
not  fully  understood.  Dr.  Dudley's  success 
with  it  in  these  cases  was  striking,  and  from 
its  novelty,  as  well  as  its  efficacy,  his  practice 
drew  upon  him  general  attention. 

In  1817,  three  yeai-s  after  his  return  to  Lex- 
ingion.  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Transylvania 
I^niversity  determined  to  re-organize  the  med- 
ical department  of  that  in,stitution,  then  the 
leading  college  in  the  West.  Dr.  Dudley  was 
made  professor  of  anatomy  and  surgery,  and 
two  of  his  fellow  students  of  1805  were  asso- 
ciated with  him.  Dr.  Drake  in  the  chair  of  ma- 
teria medica,  and  Dr.  Richardson  in  that  of 
obstetrics.  Dr.  James  Overton  was  elected 
professor  of  theory  and  practice  of  medicine, 


MEDICAL    PIONEER^;     OF    KENTUCKY, 


59 


and  to  the  Rev.  James  Blythe,  D.  D.,  was  as- 
sigiaed  the  chair  of  chemistrj-.  A  small  class 
of  medical  students  encouraged  the  enter- 
prise, and  at  the  close  of  the  session  one  of 
the  number,  W.  L.  Sutton,  of  Georgetown,  af- 
terward a  distinguished  physician  of  Ken- 
tucky, was  admitted  to  the  doctorate.  The  be- 
ginning was  regarded  as  favoraible,  but  before 
the  winter  was  over  misunderstandings  oc- 
curred among  the  members  of  the  faculty, 
and  the  feuds  resulted  in  its  disruption. 
Drake  went  bacli  to  Cincinnati  to  inaugurate 
measures  for  establishing  a  medical  school  in 
that  rising  city,  and  Overton,  disgiisted  with 
medical  politics,  removed  to  Nashville.  Bit- 
ter aniiTJOsities,  some  sharp  pamphleteering, 
and  a  duel  between  Dr.  Dudley  and  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson ensued,  in  which  the  latter  received  a 
pistol  shot  in  the  thigh.  No  attempt  was 
made  that  year  to  carry  on  the  department, 
but  the  year  following  a  new  faculty  was  or- 
ganized, with  Dr.  Dudley  in  his  former  chair, 
and  Dr.  Richardson  and  Dr.  Blythe  again  as 
two  of  his  colleag-ues.  To  these  were  added 
Dr.  Charles  Caldwell  and  Dr.  Samuel  Bro^^Ti, 
the  former  in  the  institutes  of  medicine,  the 
latter  in  theory  and  practice,  and  both  wide- 
ly known  to  the  profession. 

It  should  be  remarked,  as  a  fact  credita)ble 
to  Dr.  Dudley^  that  in  the  reconstruction  of 
the  faculty  he  made  no  objections  to  serving 
with  a  gentleman  v/itli  whom  a  little  while  be- 
fore- he  had  had  a  hostile  meeting ;  and  that  a 
few  years  later  he  united  with  his  colleagues 
in  an  invitation  to  Dr.  Drake  to  return  to  the 
scliool,  though  that  gentleman  in  a  public 
controversy  with  him  had  written  much  that 
it  was  not  easy  to  forgive.  The  fact  shows 
that  he  was  both  magnanimous  and  wise.  He 
was  able  to  rise  superior  to  the  prejudices 
which  personal  bickerings  engender,  and  gave 
his  voice  for  the  men  who  had  the  greatest 
fitness  for  the  places,  regardless  of  their  social 
relations  to  him. 

Dr.  Dudley  had  in  the  faculty  as  now  con- 
stituted some  colleagues  who  were  worthy  of 
him.  Caldwell  and  Brown,  gifted  and  learn- 
ed, ripe  in  their  powers,  both  of  the  anost  im- 
posing presence  and  already  known  to  fame, 
were  just  the  men  to  cooperate  with  him  in  his 
enterprise.  Caldwell  especially  had  the  qual- 
ities of  mind  and  temper  to  render  the  infant 
school  the.  most  important  services.  To  his 
varied  learning  and  imcommou  eloquence  lie 
added  boldness  and  energy,  and  a  devotion 
which  never  waned  or  wavered.  All  his  time, 
all  his  gifts  as  a  writer  and  a  speaker,  were 
fully  and  enthusiastically  devoted  to  the  in- 
stitution. 

The  Transylvania  Medical  School  under 
this  organization  grew  apace.  In  the  numiber 
of  its  pupils,  it  began  in  a  few  years  to  vie 
with  the  older  schools  on  our  Atlantic  border. 
The  ability  of  its  faculty  could  not  be  ques- 


tioned. Its  alumni  showed  themselves  to  be 
equal  in  attainments  and  professional  skill  to 
+he  graduate;;  of  the  oldest  instituxious.  It 
took  rank  in  a  little  while  with  the  schools  of 
Baltimore,  New  York  and  Philadelphia;  and 
the  reputation  o-f  Dr.  Dudley  rose  with  it. 
His  admiring  pupils  bore  to  every  part  of  the 
country  reports  of  his  surgical  skill  and  of  his 
powers  as  a  teacher.  Unquestionably  from 
tlie  beginning  he  was  in  their  estimation  the 
foremost  man  in  the  faculty.  Drake  entered 
it  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  scliool,  when  its  suc- 
cess had  become  assured,  and  he  brought  to  it 
a  brilliant  reputation.  But  Dudley's  preem- 
inence continued  undisturbed.  Students 
doubtless  there  were  not  a  few  who  would 
have  declared  for  other  professors,  who  took 
more  interest  in  other  lectures  than  his,  but 
the  great  body  of  the  class  he  had  always  with 
him.  To  him  they  always  hurried,  however 
listlessly  they  may  have  repaired  to  other 
teachers ;  and  whatever  other  rooms  were  de- 
serted his  am.phitheater  was  always  full. 

Why,  it  is  natural  to  ask,  was  this  ascend- 
ency? What  was  the  source  of  that  superior 
influence  which  he  so  long  exerted?  It  will 
not  be  claimed,  I  tliink,  by  his  most  ardent 
admirers  that  he  was  intellectually  sitperior 
to  all  his  colleagues.  Nay,  he  was  the  readi. 
est  himself  to  admit,  as  I  myself  know,  that  in 
point  of  mental  endowments  several  of  his  as- 
sociates had  the  advantage  of  him.  There 
were  with  him  in  the  facitlty  at  all  times  men 
who  surpassed  him  in  all  the  qualities  that  go 
to  form  the  popular  lecturer.  Caldwell  was 
far  jnore  brilliant  and  eloquent,  besides  being 
a  profound  scholar.  Brown  was  superior  to 
him  in  voice  and  person,  in  versatility  of 
mind,  and  in  depth  and  variety  of  learning. 
Drake  exceeded  him  in  elocution,  in  earnest- 
ness, in  the  extent  of  his  attainments,  and  in 
grasp  of  mind.  He  laid  no  claims  indeed  to 
oratorical  powers  or  to  professional  erudition. 
He  was  not  a  logician,  he  was  not  brilliant, 
and  he  had  neither  humor  nor  wit.  And  yet 
ill  ability  to  enchain  the  attention  of  students, 
to  i  mpress  them  with  the  value  of  his  instruct- 
ion and  his  greatness  as  a  teacher,  he  bore  off 
the  palm  from  all  the  gifted  men  who  at  va- 
rious periods  taught  by  his  side.  By  common 
consent  he  stood  as  an  instructor  among  the 
foremost  of  them,  facile  princeps. 

This  was  partly  due  undoubtedly  to  the  de- 
partment of  medicine  taught  by  him.  There 
is,  as  all  medical  teachers  well  know,  an  in- 
herent charm  about  surgery  for  medical  stu- 
dents, a  dramatic  interest  in  the  cases  of  the 
surgeon,  an  eclat  about  his  operations  which 
is  found  in  no  other  branch  of  art.  Some- 
thing is  also  to  be  set  down  to  his  holding  two 
j)rofessorships.  This  had  its  effect  upon  the 
imagination  of  students.  But  all  this  is  far 
from  accounting  for  the  superiority  which  he 
maintained  so  long  in  the  midst  of  such  com- 


60 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


petition.  The  true  explanation  of  the  fact 
is  to  be  found,  I  think,  in  the  perfect  devotion 
of  his  life  to  one  pursuit.  Choosing  this  wise 
ly  with  reference  both  to  his  own  ai^titudes 
and  its  dignity,  he  concentrated  upon  it  al! 
tlie  jjowers  of  his  mind  and  made  himself  a 
master  in  it.  All  other  studies  he  neglected. 
I'o  all  jileasure  that  would  draw  him  away 
from  it  he  turned  a  deaf  ear.  Cool,  quick, 
calm,  decisive,  with  a  sound  judgment  and  a 
steady  hand,  he  had  all  the  attributes  of  a 
great  surgeon,  and  he  improved  them  by  se- 
vere application.  In  point  of  skill  he  rose  to 
an  eminence  which  no  one  around  him  ap- 
proached.    Patients  came  to  him  from  afar 


oracular,  conveying  the  idfea  always  that  the 
mind  of  the  speaker  was  troubled  with  no 
doubts.  His  deportment  before  his  classes 
was  such  as  further  to  enhance  his  standing. 
He  was  always  in  the  presence  of  his  students 
not  the  model  teacher  onlj^,  but  the  dignified 
urbane  gentleman ;  conciliating  regard  by  his 
gentleness,  but  repelling  any  approach  to  fa- 
miliarity ;  and  never,  for  the  sake  of  raising  a 
laugh,  or  eliciting  a  little  momentary  ap- 
plause, descending  to  coarseness  in  expression 
or  thought.  That  is,  to  his  pujiils  he  was  al- 
M'ays  and  everywhere  great. 

The  medical  school  at  Lexington,  owing  to 
the  influence  of  his  great  name  more  than  to 


"FAIRLAWN",  THE  HOME  OF  DR.  DUDLEY,  NEAR  LEXINGTON. 

The  outbuilding  marked  witli  a  cross  is  the  one  in  wliieli  he  taught,  gave  demonstrations  and  made  dissec- 
tions, when  the  University  Buildings  were  not  available.  In  renovating  this  building  recently  Dr.  Barkley  in- 
forms me  that  four  skeletons,  evidently  left  over  from  cadavers,  were  found  in  a  basement,  probably  unused 
since  Dudley  gave  up  teaching  more  than  half  a  century  ago. 


because  it  was  believed  that  he  did  what 
others  could  do  better  than  any  one  else,  and 
that  he  did  much  no  one  else  in  reach  could 
do.  Students  looked  up  to  him  as  an  opera- 
tor who  had  distanced  competition,  and  a 
teacher  who  gave  them  not  what  was  in  the 
books,  but  much  that  the  writers  of  books  had 
never  understood.  Like  John  Hunter,  he 
ratlier  prided  himsdf  on  his  independence  of 
authorities,  and  tliis  increased  the  admiration 
of  his  pupils.  They  listened  to  his  words  as 
those  of  a  master  who  drew  continually  upon 
the  stores  of  his  own  ample  experience,  and 
not  upon  the  teachings  of  others.  They  were 
liersuadc'd  th:it  there  was  much  they  must 
learn  from  his  lips  or  learn  not  at  all. 

His  manner   as   a   lectiirer   was  singularly 
imposing  and  impi'essive.    It  was  magisterial. 


any  other  cause,  flourished  for  more  than 
twenty  years.  But  he  was  painfull.y  aware 
that  it  was  beset  by  difficulties  which  must 
ultimately  cause  its  decline.  He  often  allud- 
ed mournfully  to  these  circumstances  in  con- 
versation with  his  colleagues;  and  when  the 
efl'ort  was  made,  in  1837,  to  transfer  the  school 
to  Louisville,  it  Avas  expected  that  lie  would 
favor  the  measure.  But  he  decided  otherwise. 
His  attachment  to  Lexington,  where  he  had 
been  brought  up  and  was  surrounded  by  such 
troops  of  friends,  overbore  all  considerations 
of  policy,  and  he  remained  with  the  school, 
on  the  spot  Avhere  they  had  risen  together. 
His  last  coni-se  of  lectures  was  delivered  in 
1849. 

In  some  respects  Dr.  Dudley,  as  a  practi- 
tioner, was  in  advance  of  his  age.     He  con- 


MEDICAL    PI0NEEE8     OF     KENTUCKY, 


61 


demned  blood-letting,  and  used  to  say  that  a 
man's  life  was  shortened  a  year  for  every 
bleeding.  On  this  point  he  was  up  with  thtfse 
of  our  day  who  are  the  most  ultra.  His  use 
of  the  trepine  in  epilepsy  and  his  treatment 
of  fungus  cerebri  were  original.  The  band- 
age in  his  hands  assumed  an  importance  not 
dreamed  of  in  our  country  before  his  time. 
His  views  on  many  surgical  subjects  were  pe- 
culiar, and.  he  adopted  novel  methods  in  the 
cure  of  other  affections  which  have  since  been 
sanctioned  by  general  experience.  But  at  his 
practice  in  another  and  a  large  class  of  af- 
fections the  physician  of  modern  times  stands* 
aghast.  To  "puke  and  purge,  pvirge  and 
puke,"  as  he  advised,  day  after  day,  for 
weeks  and  months  together,  in  tubercular  dis- 
eases, affections  of  the  hip-.joint,  spine,  etc., 
all  the  while  restricting  patients  to  a  diet  of 
skimmed  milk  and  stale  bread,  or  a  few  half 
pints  of  Avater  gruel,  would  be,  as  we  regard 
it,  to  conspire  with  the  disease  against  the  life 
of  the  patient.  And  yet  if  Dr.  Dudley  was 
not  a  successful  practitioner  he  was  greatlj' 
deceived,  and  the  public  was  sadly  deceived 
with  him.  ITuquestionably  he  had  the  reputa- 
tion of  success,  and  he  was  himself  fully  per- 
suaded that  he  was  making  cures  all  his  life, 
by  his  energetic  practice,  of  diseases  which 
are  esteemed  the  most  unmanageable. 

Dr.  Dudley's  reputation  as  a  surgeon  rests 
chiefly  upon  his  operations  for  stone  in  the 
bladder,  in  which  he  succeeded  better  than 
all  other  surgeons  of  the  world,  either  of  our 
own  or  of  former  times.  He  performed  lith- 
otomy in  the  course  of  his  life  two  hundred 
and  twenty -five  times,  and  it  was  not  until  af- 
ter about  his  hundredth  case  that  he  lost  his 
first  patient  as  a  result  of  the  operation.  This 
success,  it  is  believed,  is  unparalleled.  He 
never  adopted  lithotritj^,  but  performed  the 
lateral  operation,  and  to  the  last  adhered  to 
the  gorget  for  making  the  incision  into  the 
bladder,  and  preferred  an  instrument  rather 
under  than  over  size,  regarding  the  danger 
from  contusion  of  the  parts  in  extracting  a 
large  calculus  as  less  than  that  of  hemorrhage 
fro'm  a  free  incision.  He  v.^as  an  expert  opera- 
tor but  rather  cautious  than  bold,  and  con- 
servative rather  than  adventurous ;  not  inclin- 
ing at  all  to  operate  in  doubtful  cases.  His 
confidence  was  great  in  the  constitutional 
treatment  of  patients  about  to  toe  submitted 
to  the  knife,  and  his  rpm-arkaWe  success  he  al- 
ways attributed  more  to  the  care  Avith  which 
he  prepared  his  subjects  for  operations  than 
to  his  superior  skill  in  operating. 

It  was  not  until  Dr.  Dudley  had  been  many 
years  a  leading  teacher  that  he  became  known 
as  a  writer.  It  is  doubtful  in  fact  whether  he 
would  ever  have  written  at  all  but  for  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  journal  of  medicine  under  the 
auspices  of  Transylvania  University.  He  had 
no  taste  for  writing,  and  but  little  leisure  for  it. 


Tiie  Transylvania  Journal  of  Medicine  was 
issued  on  the  1st  of  February,  1828,  edited  by 
Professors  Cooke  and  Short,  and  through, 
their  influence  Dr.  Dudley  was  induced  to 
prepare  a  paper  on  injuries  of  the  head.  This 
remarkable  paper  forms  the  first  article  in  the 
first  number  of  that  journal.  Seldom  has  an 
article  appeared  in  modern  times  setting  forth 
more  original  views.  By  a  number  of  cases  he 
showed  that  epilepsy  is  frequently  caused  by 
pressure  on  the  brain,  resulting  from  frac- 
tures of  the  cranium,  and  is  curable  by  tre- 
phining. Five  epileptics  were  operated  upon, 
and  three  out  of  the  five  were  relieved,  and  the 
other  two  were  much  benefited  by  the  opera- 
tion. Spicula  of  bone  in  some  instances  were 
found  growing  from  the  seat  of  the  fracture 
and  penetrating  far  into  the  brain.  The  sense 
of  relief  experienced  by  some  of  the  patients 
was  immediate  and  in  some  of  them  there  wa.s 
no  recurrence  of  the  convulsions  after  the 
bone  was  removed.  .Dr.  Dudley  always  and 
justly  referred  to  his  operation  of  trephining 
for  epilepsy  as  constituting  a  new  era  in 
surgery. 

But  another  lesson  of  the  greatest  value  was 
communicated  in  this  paper,  in  illustration 
of  which  other  striking  cases  are  reported. 
They  relate  to  the  treatment  of  fungus 
cerehri.  In  one  of  his  cases  a  brick-mason  had 
his  head  extensively  fractured  by  a  piece  of 
falling  timber.  The  depression  'was  so  great 
that  the  surgeon  thought  he  might  have 
buried  his  forearm  in  the  cranium.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  third  week  a  fungus  of 
frightful  magnitude  was  detected  growing  up 
from  the  brain.  For  this  formidable  growth 
Dr.  Dudley  adopted  graduated  pi-essure. 
Dry  sponge  Avas  placed  on  the  fungus,  and 
bound  as  close  as  the  feelings  of  the  patient 
would  permit.  By  imbibing  moisture  the 
sponge  exerted  a  gradually  increased  press- 
ure. On  removing  the  dressings  he  had  satis- 
factory eA'ideuce  of  the  efficacy  of  the  remedy, 
but  it  Avas  discovered  that  the  fungus  had  shot 
branches  into  the  sponge.  To  prevent  this 
subsequently  a  piece  of  thin  muslin  Avas  inter- 
posed, and  the  patient  recovered  fully.  And, 
Avhat  Avas  remarlrable,  he  shoAved  on  recoveiy 
a  decided  increase  of  intellect,  Avhieli  continu- 
ed, however,  for  only  a  few  years.  In  the  end 
he  became  epileptic,  and  thirteen  years  after 
receiving  the  injury  was  nearly  fatuous.  Dr. 
Dudley,  in  connection  Avith  this  case,  remarks 
that  he  had  cured  fungus  cerebri  by  the  use  of 
drj^  sponge  in  five  days. 

His  second  paper  appeared  in  the  following 
number  of  the  same  journal.  The  subject  is 
hydrocele,  in  which  he  proposed  a  new  opera- 
tion: a  free  incision  into  the  tunica  vaginalis, 
the  introduction  of  a  tent,  and  excision  of 
the  preternatural  sac,  if  one  is  found  to  exist. 
In  the  fourth  number  he  commenced  an  elab- 
orate article  on  the  bandage,  which  is  continu- 


62 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOVUXAL. 


ed  through  three  successive  numbei-s.  lu  the 
fifth  volume  he  reports  another  case  of  epi- 
lepsy successfully  treated  by  the  trephine. 
His  next  paper  appeared  in  the  ninth  volume, 
and  treats  of  fractures,  in  the  management  of 
which  he  shows  tlie  great  utility  of  the  baud- 
age.  His  last  paper  was  on  the  nature  and 
treatment  of  calculous  diseases,  and  was  pub-' 
lished  in  the  same  volume  of  that  journal.  It 
is  rich  in  details  most  interesting  to  the  sur- 
geon. In  his  first  case  he  found  it  necessary 
to  apply  a  ligature  to  the  transvei-se  perineal 


was  executed  before  anyone  else  present  had 
remarked  the  difficult3\ 

This  is  the  sum  of  Dr.  Dudley' 's  conti-ibu- 
tions  to  medical  literature.  He  meditated 
other  papers,  but  never  found  time  to  prepare 
tliem.  It  was  once  said  of  liim  by  a  colleague, 
who  greatly  admired  him  both  as  a  surgeon 
and  as  a  teacher,  that  "his  Hippoerene  soon 
ran  dry. ' '  From  the  turn  of  his  mind  aud  the 
nature  of  his  studies  this  was  necessarily  so. 
ll'e  wrote  only  on  subjects  purely  practical; 
aud  where  his  experience  ceased,  there  he  stop- 


THE  DUDLEY  GRAVES. 


artery,  on  account  of  its  unusual  size..  Of  oue 
hundred  aud  fort>--five  patients  who.  up  to  the 
time  at  which  he  wrote,  had  applied  to  him.  he 
operated  upon  all  Imt  ten.  In  one  case,  when 
his  patient  was  on  the  tflble  before  his  class 
and  some  of  his  eolleagiies,  he  discovered  that 
his  accustomed  operation  was  impracticable 
froin  deformity  of  the  pelvis,  aud  wlule  his  as- 
sistrnts  were  taking  their  positions  resolved  to 
make  the  external  incision  transverse,  which 


ped.  But  if  the  stream  which  flowed  from  his 
pen  was  not  an  abounding  river,  it  was  a  Yau- 
clusa  fountain  which  has  arrested  the  attention 
of  surgeons  everjTvhere,  and  by  the  banks  of 
^\•luch  students  of  surgery  still  love  to  linger. 
Dr.  Dudley  was  married  on  the  9th  of  June, 
lSi!l.  to  I\riss  Anna  ^Marie  Short,  daughter  of 
IMajor  Pe^"ton  Short,  and  sister  of  the  late 
Prof.  Charles  W.  Short.  This  estimable  lady 
died  A'oung,  leaving  him     two     sons  and  a 


MEDICAL    PIONEEBS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


63 


daughter:  the  present  Dr.  Wilkins  Dudley, 
W.  A.  Dudley,  Esq.,  and  Mrs.  Anna  Tilford. 
He  never  married  a  second  time.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  18-48  he  removed  to  Fairlawn,  his 
beautiful  country  residence  near  Lexington, 
and  gradually  ■\vithdrew  from  the  practice  of 
his  profession.  He  delivered  his  last  lecture 
in  Februai'y,  1850,  and  the  last  entry  on  his 
booirs  bears  date  April  28,  1853.  He  was  con- 
sulted often  after^vard  by  his  professional 
brethren,  but  from  that  time  forward  he  never 
treated  any  patient  of  his  own.  His  death 
took  place  on  Thursday,  the  20th  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1870,  in  tlie  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  ag'e. 

The  life  of  this  distinguished  and  useful 
man  was  extended  far  beyond  the  term  allot- 
ted to  those  who  commenced  life  with  him  and 
were  his  closest  friends.  Of  the  surgeons  who 
competed  with  him  in  early  manhood,  and  of 
all  those  who  were  associated  with  him  as 
teachers  in  the  earlier  organizations  to  which 
he  belonged,  not  one  now  remains.  He  was 
permitted  to  linger  on  amid  the  scenes  which 
had  witnessed  his  triumphs  for  eighteen  year.s 
after  the  last  one  of  those  who  had  officiated 
with  him  in  the  first  medical  faculty  of  which 
he  was  a  member  had  passed  away,  and  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  after  most  of  his  old  as- 
sociates were  gone.  His  benefieient  life  had 
s^irrounded  him  by  hosts  of  friends.  In  his 
prime  he  had  wisely  provided  for  an  old  age 
of  infirmity,  and  his  declining  years  were 
solaced  by  all  the  comforts  that  wealth  and  af 
fection  can  supply. 


DR.  DANIEL  DRAKE. 
J?.y  Henry  A.  Cottetx,  A.M.,M.D  ,  Louisville 

One  of  the  foremost  among  the  worthies 
sketched  in  these  biographies  is  Dr.  Daniel 
Drake,  scholar,  orator,  writer,  politician,  and 
promoter ;  a  genius  in  the  initiative,  a  master 
in  the  executive,  and  "a  problem  in  physical 
and  mental  dynamics."  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Gross 
who  knew  him  well  as  friend  and  colleague 
thus  pictures  him:  "No  one  could  approach 
him  or  be  in  his  presence  vdthout  feeling  that 
he  was  in  contact  with  a  man  of  superior  in- 
tellect and  acquirments.  His  features,  re- 
markably regiilar,  were  indicative  of  manly 
beauty,  and  were  lighted  up  by  blue  eyes  of 
vonderful  power  and  penetration.  His  fore- 
head was  high,  well  fashioned,  ^nd  strongly 
denotive  of  intellect.  The  nose  was  promin- 
ent,, but  not  too  larsre.  His  voice  was  remark- 
ably clear  and  distinct. 

"The  life  of  Dr.  Drake  was  eminently 
eventful.  No  man  that  our  profession  has  yet 
produced  has  led  so  diversified  a  career.  He 
was,  probably,  connected  with  more  medical 
schools  than  anv  individual  that  ever  lived. 
It  is  rare  that  physicians  interest  themselves 
in  so  many  public    and    professional    enter- 


prises as  he  did.  His  mind  was  of  unlimited 
application.  His  own  profession,  -which  he 
served  so  well  and  so  faithfully,  was  incap- 
ah]p  of  i'estraini]:g  it ;  eveiy  now  and  then  it 
overlapped  these  boundaries,  and  wandered 
off  into  other  spheres.  His  career,  in  this  re- 
spect, affords  a  remarkable  contrast  mth  that 
of  jnedical  men  generally,  whose  pursuits 
furnish  few  incidents  of  public  interest  or  im. 
j'ortance.  His  mission  to  his  profession  and 
to  his  age  was  a  bright  and  happy  one.  No 
Ainericau  physician  has  performed  his  part 
bett'^r,  or  left  a  richer  savor  along  his  life- 
track. 

"But  his  life  was  not  only  eventful;  it  was 
also  eminently  laborious.  No  medical  man  ever 
worked  harder,  or  more  diligently  and  faith- 
fully :  his  industry  was  untiring,  his  persever- 
ance unceasing.  It  was  to  this  element  of  his 
character,  blended  with  the  intensity  we  have 
described,  that  he  was  indebted  for  the  success 
■^vliich  so  pre-eminently  distinguished  hiTri 
from  his  professional  contemporaries.  He  had 
genius,  it  is  true,  and  genius  of  a,  high  order, 
but  without  industry  and  perseverence  it 
would  have  availed  him  little  in  the  accotnp- 
lisnment  of  the  great  aims  and  objects  of  his 
life.  He  seemed  to  be  early  impressed  with 
the  truth  of  the  remark  of  Seneca:  'Non  est 
ad  astra  mollis  a  terris  via.'  He  felt  that  he 
did  not  belong  to  that  fortunate  class  of  be- 
ings whose  peculiar  privilege  it  is  to  perform 
great  enterprises  without  labor,  and  to 
achieve  great  ends  without  means.  His  haib- 
its  of  industry,  formed  in  early  boyhood,  be- 
fore, perhaps,  he  ever  dreamed  of  the  destiny 
that  was  awaiting  him,  forsook  him  only  with, 
his  existence.  The  great  defect  in  his  eharac- 
ler  was  restlessness,  growing  apparently,  out 
of  his  ardent  .".nd  impulsive  temperatment, 
which  never  permitted  him  to  pursue  any  sub- 
ject very  long  without  becoming  tired  of  it.  or 
panting  for  chauffe.  His  mind  required  di- 
versity of  food.  Hence,  while  engaged  in  the 
composition  of  his  great  work,  he  coidd  not 
resist  the  frequent  temptations  that  presented 
themselves  to  divert  him  from  his  labors.  His 
delight  was  to  appear  before  the  public,  to  de- 
liver a  tempprance  address,  to  preside  at  a 
pnlilic  meeting,  or  to  make  a  speech  on  the 
snbieet  of  internal  improvement,  or  the  Bible 
or  missionary  cause.  For  a  similiar  reason  he 
st.e]>ped  out  of  his  way  to  write  his  letters  on 
slavery,  and  his  discourses  before  the  Cincin- 
nati Medical  Library  Association.  No  man  in 
our  land  could  have  done  these  things  better, 
few,  indeed,  so  well ;  but,  useful  as  they  are, 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  undertook  them, 
because  they  occupied  much  of  his  time  that 
might,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  his  friends, 
ousrht  to  have  been  devoted  to  the  composi- 
tio'i  and  completion  of  his  ffreat  woi'k,  the  ul- 
timate aim  and  object  of  his  aimibition.  Like 
Adam  Clarke,  he  seemed  to  think  that  a  man 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


could  not  have  too  many  irons  in  the  fire,  and 
eonseqnenee  was  that  he  generally  had  the 
tongs,  shovel,  and  poker  all  in  at  the  same 
time. 

''It  was  the  same  restless  feeling  that  caus- 
ed his  frequent  resignations  from  medical  in- 
stitutions. Had  his  disposition  been  more 
calm  and  patient,  he  would  have  been  satis- 
fied to  identify  himself  with  one  medical 
school,  and  to  labor  zealously  for  its  perman- 
ency and  renown.  In  moving  about  so  fre- 
quently, he  induced  people  to  believe  that  he 
was  a  r[uarrelsome  man,  who  could  not  agree 
with  his  colleagues,  and  whose  ruling  passion 
was  to  be  a  kind  of  autocrat  in  every  medical 


Principal  Diseases  of  the  Interior  Valley  of 
North  America."  a  Avork  which,  comprehens- 
ive in  scope,  philosophic  in  spirit,  and  abound- 
ing in  graphic  pictures  of  disease,  will  remain 
a  storehouse  of  knowledge  and  a  monument 
to  the  niginality  of  its  gifted  and  versatile 
author.  He  said  to  the  speaker  when  he  was 
about  to  enter  on  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion :  'I  have  never  seen  a  great  and  perman- 
ent practice  the  fomidations  of  which  were 
not  laid  in  the  hearts  of  the  poor.  Therefore, 
cultivate  the  poor.  If  you  need  another 
though  a  sordid  reason,  the  poor  of  to-day  are 
the  rich  of  to-morrow  in  this  country.     The 


DOCTOR  DANIEL  DRAKE 

17SS--18S2 


faculty  \\\\\\  which  he  was  connected.  But, 
while  his  own  conduct  gave  color  to  siich  an 
idea,  nothing  could  have  been  more  untrue." 
Dr.  D.  TV.  Yandell,  who  sat  at  his  feet  in 
student  days,  speaks  of  him  thus:  '"As  a  lec- 
turer Dr.  Drake  had  few  equals.  He  was 
never  dull.  His  was  an  alert  and  masculine 
mind.  His  words  were  fiiU  of  vitality.  His 
manner  was  earnest  and  impressive.  His  elo- 
quence was  fervid.  While  connected  with  the 
ITniversity  he  composed  his  work  upon  "'The 


poor  will  be  the  most  gi-ateful  of  all  your  pa- 
tients.   Lend  an  ear  to  all  their  calls'." 

Dr.  Drake  was  the  son  of  Isaac  Drake  and 
Eli7abeth  Shotwell,  and  was  born  in  Essex 
Counts-,  Xew  Jersey,  October  30th,  1785. 
"When  Daniel  was  two  and  one-half  yeai"s  old 
his  father  moved  his  family  to  IMayslick,  ila- 
son  County,  Kentucky-,  Here  a  log  cabin  was 
Imilt  after  the  manner  of  pioneers.  In  this 
rude  hut  and  another  of  similar  architecture 
on  the  Lexington  road,  the  boy  lived  until  he 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


65 


was  15  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  Cincin* 
iiati,  then  holding  only  a  thousand  souls,  and 
began  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  Will- 
iain  Go  forth.  Here  he  read  Quincy's  Dispen 
satory,  and  ground  quick-silver  for  mercurial 
ointment.  Years  afterward  he  facetiously 
said  that  "the  latter  was  much  the  easier  task 
of  the  two."  After  studying  and  working  for 
a  term  of  five  years,  he  was  given  an  autograph 
diploma  by  his  preceptor.  As  there  was  in 
that  day  no  medical  school  West  of  the  AUe- 
ghanies,  and  as  Ohio  was  not  then  a  state,  this 
act  was  doubtless  legal  and  authoritative.  On 
this  diploma  he  practiced  for  eleven  years 
when,  at  a  Commencement  held  for  the  pur- 
pose, by  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Drake  was  honored  by  having  the  Doctorate 
degree  of  that  school  conferred  upon  him.  Of 
this  action,  Dr.  Joseph  Kanshoff  says,  "It  was 
a  function  thereunto  without  precedent,  and 
to  my  Imowledge  never  repeated,  but  the  ex.- 
cellence  of  his  thesis,  together  with  the  con- 
tributions he  had  already  made  to  science, 
justified  the  faculty  in  this  signal  distinc- 
tion." What  a  compliment  to  a  young  back- 
woodsman of  31  years. 

His  firfst  \'isit  to  Philadelphia  was  in  180.5. 
He  spent  the  year  1806  in  Kentucky.  In  1807, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  married  Harriet 
Sisson,  age  twenty  years,  of  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut, with  whom  he  lived  happily  till  her 
death  a  quarter  of  a  centuiy  later.  Of  this, 
years  after,  he  wrote:  "We  began  the  world 
in  love,  and  hope  and  poverty."  His  children 
immbered  five,  and  his  domestic  life,  save  in 
the  death  of  two  infants,  was  unclouded. 
From  the  biosyranhical  sketch  puhlished  by  his 
son.  Chas.  D.  Drake,  in  1860,  we  quote  the 
following  beautiful  tribute  to  his  wife.  It  is 
not  onlv  a  testimonial  to  his  domestic  felicity ; 
but  will  ffive  the  reader  a  fine  example  of 
Drake's  literary  force  and  style. 

"We  lived  together,  not  merely  at  home, 
and  in  the  houses  and  societv  of  our  friends, 
but  frequently,  as  far  aS"  possible,  in  conjunc- 
tion, all  places  of  rational  curiosity,  of  im- 
provement, and  of  innocent  and  attractive 
amusement.  On  such  occasions,  her  observa- 
tions were  always  just,  instructive,  and  piq- 
uant. I  relied  upon  her  taste  and  judgment; 
I  adopted  her  approval :  I  submitted  mv  own 
impressions  to  her  decision ;  I  was  gratified  in 
jiropoi'tion  as  she  approved  and  enjoyed.  A 
more  devoted  mother  never  lived.  The  love  of 
her  offspring  was  at  once  a  passion  and  a  prin- 
ciple. After  her  husband,  all  her  solicitude, 
her  ambition,  and  her  vanity  were  for  her 
children.  She  loved  them  tenderly,  she  loved 
them  practically,  but  she  loved  them  without 
discretion,  and  was  jealous  of  whatever  could 
impair  their  qualities,  manners,  or  physical 
constitution.  Her  tenderness  was  without 
follv,  her  care    without    sickliness.     Her  af- 


fection begat  vigilance,  and  modified  the  in- 
dulgence which  maternal  love  too  often  sane- 
tious,  to  the  ruin  of  its  object.  She  loved  her 
children,  but  she  also  respected  virtue,  intel- 
ligence, modesty,  industry,  accomplishments 
and  honest  distinction.  She  loved  them  as 
candidates  for  excellence.  Hence  her  affect- 
ions were  chastened  with  severity,  and  the 
greater  her  attachment  the  more  intense  her 
desire  to  reserve  the  subject  of  it  from  folh^, 
vulgarity,  and  vice.  Her  care  rose  with  her 
love,  and  her  corrections  multiplied  "v^dth  her 
admiration." 

In  1817  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Materia 
i\Iedica  in  Transylvania  University,  Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky.  He  tau.ght  for  one  session  only 
here ;  then  went  to  Cincinnati  where  he  made 
plans  for  a  literaiy  and  scientific  college,  a 
medical  school  and  a  hospital,  and  obtained 
from  the  Legislature,  a  charter  for  each  of 
these  institutions.  Thus  was  established  be- 
side the  first  named,  the  Medical  College  of 
Ohio,  and  the  Commercial  Hospital,  in  which 
Drake  took  the  initiative.  The  College  has 
been  for  more  than  90  vears  one  of  the  great 
medical  schools  of  the  West,  while  the  hospital 
was  destined  to  become  one  of  the  first  marine 
hospitals  of  the  United  States.  In  1823  he 
returned  to  Transylvania  and  resumed  bis 
work  as  professor  of  Materia  Medica,  being 
later  transferred  to  the  chair  of  practice, 
which  he  held  till  1827,  Jefferson  Medical 
College  Philadelnhia,  called  him  to  the  chair 
of  Practice  in  1830.  Spending  one  vear  only 
in  Philadelphia,  he  returned  to  Cincinnati 
and  founded  a  Medical  Department  to  Miami 
T^niversity,  which,  before  the  opening  of  the 
first  session,  united  with  the  Medical  College 
of  Ohio.  Being  dissatisfied  with  the  subor- 
dinate position  there  elven  him,  he  retired  to 
private  life.  His  restless  ambition  could  not 
long  brook  the  obseuritv  of  retirem.ent,  and 
v,'e  find  him  in  183.5  establishing  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  Cincinnati  College.  As- 
sumins;-  the  dean.ship  he  called  to  his  aid  an 
able  facultv.  of  which  the  a-reat  Samuel  D. 
Cross,  destined  to  become  his  life  Ions;  friend, 
became  a  member.  This  school  was  short 
lived,  and  Drake,  takina'  Gross  with  him  went 
to  Louisville,  the  former  beins;  assia:ned  to  the 
chair  of  Clinical  TMedicine  and  Pathological 
Anatomy,  and  the  latter  to  the  chair  of  Sur- 
g'(>ry,  in  the  T"^niversity  of  Louisville.  In  1844, 
he  was  transferred  to  the  chair  of  Practice  of 
Medicine  which  he  held  till  1849,  when  he  re- 
signed and  returned  to  Cincinnati;  havin,» 
been  reappointed  to  the  chair  of  Practice  in 
the  Medical  College  of  Ohio.  In  1850,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  college  broil,  he  resigned  his  pro- 
fessorship. He  was  recalled  to  Louisville,  and 
resumed  the  chair  of  Practice  in  the  Univers- 
itv.  in  the  year  1851-52,  The  iledical  College 
of  Ohio  being  reorganized,  Drake  went  back 


66 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


to  Cinciunati  to  occupy  the  chair  lie  had  va- 
catfid  two  years  befoi-e.  But  the  hand  of 
death  was  upon  him,  and  after  seeing  the 
oi)euing  of  the  se.ssion  he  paid  the  mortal  dehf 
on  Novemfber  5th.  1852.  He  was  literally 
worn  out  by  prodigioiis  labor ;  saj^s  Prof.  Rau- 
sohofif :  ''It  would  be  beyond  reason  on  an  ac- 
casion  like  this  to  touch  upon  every  activity  of 
so  versatile  a  man  as  Drake,  and  oue  can  only 
touch  upon  the  chief  of  the  many  radiating 
ways  travelled  by  the  influence  of  this  master 
mind.  And  of  them,  next  to  that  of  his  writ- 
ten woi'k,  was  that  of  the  lecture  room.  Drake 
loved  to  teach,  and  because  he  loved  it,  did  it 
well.  During  thirty-five  years,  he  held  nine 
professorsliips,  in  five  different  .schools.  A 
I'estlessness  innate  in  his  make-up  and  an  ha- 
bitual discontent  with  his  professional  env- 
ii'onmeut  made  him  an  itinerant  in  medicine. 
The  longest  continuous  professorship,  ten 
years,  he  held  at  Louis^alle. " 

Besides  this  he  was  constantly  pi'omoting 
secular  and  civil  schemes,  establishing  non- 
medical institutions  for  the  iipbuilding  of  his 
chosen  city,  Cincinnati  owing  more  to  him 
tlian  to  any  dozen  others  of  her  pioneers,  pro- 
jecting schemes  foi'  a  great  railroad,  the  Cin- 
cinnati Southern,  promoting  and  establishing 
philanthropie  and  religious  institutions,  edit- 
ing journals,  scientific  and  medical,  and  writ- 
ing a  library  of  books  dealing  with  every 
phase  of  thought  and  enterprise,  besides  lec- 
tures, pamphlets,  maps  and  brochures.  His 
one  great  work,  the  huge  volume  on  "The 
Principal  Diseases  of  the  Interior  Valley  of 
Noi'th  America,"  rivals  Gibbon's  Decline 
and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  in  the  schol- 
arship, study,  and  research  demanded  of  its 
author,  1o  say  nothing  of  the  mechanical  la- 
bor of  writing  it  down.  Such  a  record  spells 
genius,  and  enough  of  his  work  lives  after 
him  to  secure  immortality  to  his  name.  He 
had  his  faults,  doubtless,  but  he  iwas  without 
a  vice,  chaste,  A'irtuous  and  clean  in  body,  soul 
and  mind.  A  character  so  noble  outshines  the 
luster  of  his  genius  and  will  stand  forever  the 
highest  testimonial  to  culture,  and  to  the 
clor^v  of  medicine. 


JOHN  ESTIN  COOKE. 

By  Henry  A.  Cottell,  M.  D.,  Ijonis\'ille. 

"The  beloved  physician."  was  the  decora- 
tion worn  by  St.  Luke  in  the  Apostolic  Col- 
lege, and  countless  thousands  of  doctors  since 
his  day  have  won  the  title  through  devotion  to 
the  well  being  of  their  fellows,  in  the  tender 
ministrations  of  their  calling,  and  worn  it 
cracefully.  and  modestly.  But  among  the  em- 
inent teachers  of  Tran.sylvania  and  the  Fni- 
vei'sity  of  Louisville  there  was  none  to  whom 
the  decoration  could  be  more  appropriately 
applied  than  -John  Estin  Cooke.     Of  him  Dr. 


Luusford  P.  Yandell,  Sr.,  wrote,  "Dr.  Cooke 
was  one  of  the  few  men  who  might  have  been 
safely  trusted  to  write  his  autobiography.  He 
would  have  reviewed  his  carer  with  a  truth- 
fulness, a  modesty,  a  candor  that  would  have 
exalted  his  character  in  the  eyes  of  men.  His 
Avorks  will  be  read  by  the  curious  for  a  long 
time  to  come,  and  \yi\]  always  be  read  'with 
advantage  by  the  earnest  student." 

John  Estin  Cooke,  son  of  Stephen  Cooke,  a 
^^irginia  physician  who  had  served  as  surgeon 
in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  was  born  in 
Boston,  ]\rass.,  Slarch  2,  ]78.3.  His  parents 
were  on  a  visit  to  that  town  at  that  time.  He 
studied  medicine  with  his  father,  and  acquir- 
ed the  doctoT'ate  at  the  Universitj^  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1805.  He  began  practice  in  Warren- 
ton,  Faucpiier  County,  Virginia,  and  after  a 
sojourn  in  that  place  of  about  six  years  moved 
to  Winchester.  Wliile  in  this  place,  his  ambi- 
tion showed  itself  in  an  effort,  with  a  Dr.  l\Ic- 
Guire,  to  orgajiize  a  medical  school.  In  1827 
he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  theory  and  prac- 
tice of  medicine  in  Transvlvania  University, 
succeeding  Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  who  strongly 
opposed  his  doctrines.  He  wrote  an  article  on 
Autumnal  Fever,  publi.shed  in  the  Medical 
Bc'jord  in  1824.  This  attracted  public  atten- 
tion, and  led  to  his  call  to  Transylvania.  A 
"Treatise  of  Pathology  and  Therapeutics," 
published  in  two  octavo  A'olumes  of  540  pages 
eacii.  was  the  first  systematic  work  issued  by  a 
profe.ssor  of  Transylvania  A  third  volume 
was  promised.  It  never  appeared ;  but  essays 
subsequently  published  amounted  practically 
to  another  volume.  In  the  fii-st  year  of  his 
professorship  he  was  made  co-editor,  with 
Chas.  Wilkins  Short,  of  the  Tran.si/lvnnia  Joiir- 
nal  of  ^frdicinr  and  the  Allied  Scioicef;.  a 
journal  issued  by  ■^he  medical  faculty  of 
Transylvania  University.  Through  this 
medium,  Cooke  and  Charles  Caldwell  were  the 
advocates  and  defendei-s  of  the  false  doctrines 
and  theories  theji  in  vogue,  and  inventing  net 
a  few  others,  which  powerfully  influenced 
medical  thought  not  only  throughout  the 
Southwest,  but  almost  the  civilized  world 
OA'er. 

In  1837  Cooke  was  called  to  LouisA-ille  and 
was  ffiven  the  chair  of  Theorv  and  Practice  of 
^ledicine  in  the  ^Tedical  Institiite  there  out  of 
which  came  the  TJniversity  of  Louisville. 
Cooke  was  by  this  act  one  of  the  foiuiders  of 
that  great  school.  The  theory  which  made 
him  famous  was  elaborated  duringr  his  long 
rides  as  a  country  doctor  in  Virginia.  It  is 
thus  succinctly  stated  by  his  colleaeu^s  of  old 
Transylvania.  Dr.  Robert  P'^ter.  "His  fame 
was  mainly  built  on  his  celebrated  theory  of 
the  universal  origin  of  disease,  which  was, 
that  disease  was  caused  bv  cold  or  malaria. 
That  especiallv  it  commenced  in  weakened 
action  of  the  heart,  resultins'  in  eou!?estion  of 
the  vena  cava,  its  branches  and  capillai'y  dis- 


MEDICAL    PIONEEJ.'S     OF    KENTUCKY, 


67 


trilnitioji,  and  that  fever  was  but  the  reaction 
of  the  vital  force  to  overcome  this  condition, 
which  nni-elieved  would  result  in  death.  Ac- 
cording' to  him,  all  autumnal  and  malarial  fe- 
vers were  but  variations  of  one  diseased  condi- 
tion ;  and  even  those  fearful  scourges  the 
plague,  cholera,  yellow  fever,  dysentery,  etc., 
were  simply  varied  forms  and  conditions  of 
congestion  of  the  vena  cava." 

To  destroy  this  many-headed  hydra,  while 
he  would  use  cold  water  to  reduce  too  great 
febrile   excitement   and   even   sometimes   give 


repeated  pro  re  nata;  actually  giving  one 
pound  in  one  day  to  a  young  patient,  without 
fatal  resiilt. "    0  iempora!  0  mores! 

Two  survivals  of  Cooke's  theory  and  prac- 
tice are  in  the  mind  of  the  writer;  when  he 
was  a  student  in  the  Universitv  of  Louisville 
Dr.  Lunsford  P.  Yandell,  Ji'.';  (1870-71-72) 
then  professor  of  Slateria  Medica,  Therapeut- 
ics, and  Dermatology,  evolved  a  theory  of  the 
malarial  origin  of  all  diseases  except  syphilis 
and  tuberculosis.  He  excused  the  vena  cava 
and  brought  into  play  more  correctly  and  sci- 


DOCTOR  JOHN  ESTEN  COOKE 

I783--1853 


antimonial  wine,  his  main  reliance  was  on 
blood-letting  and  cholagogue  purgatives;  as 
he  believed  it  was  by  increasing  the  secretion 
of  the  liver  and  causing  it  to  pour  out  con- 
stant "black  bile"  that  the  venous  congestion 
was  to  be  relieved  and  the  jDatient  cured. 

Among  all  these  remedies  calomel  was  his 
chief  reliance,  and  was  given  by  him  in  doses 
not  measured  by  the  balance  but  by  the  effect 
they  produced ;  so  that  in  the  latter  days  of 
his  practice,  notably  during  the  epidemic  of 
cholera  in  Lexington  in  1833,  he  absolutely  re- 
sorted to  tablespoonful  doses  of  this  mercurial, 


entifieally  the  portal  cirtulation,  and,  work- 
ing out  the  pathological  features  of  the  theory 
to  his  O'wn  satisfaction,  prescribed  quinine  for 
every  disease,  except  tuberculosis  and  syphi- 
lis, that  he  was  called  upon  to  treat.  The 
writer  recalls  a  case  of  acute  diffused  acne, 
involving  almost  the  entire  cutaneous  surface 
of  the  patient's  body.  Yandell  looked  the  pa- 
tient over  carefully  and  said:  ''this  looks  like 
syphilitic  acne,  but  T  believe  it  is  malarial, 
give  her  quinine  in  ten  grain  doses  three  times 
a  day."    I  complied,  and  had  the  pleasure  d* 


6S 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURXAL. 


seeing  the  patient  cured  in  less  tlian  two 
weeks'  time. 

The  instance  of  the  survival  of  Cooke's 
practice,  was  exhibited  bj'  a  j^oung  doctor  who 
some  fifteen  years  ago,  came  to  Louis\ilk- 
froui  the  heart  of  the"  Blue  Grass,  and  was  tlie 
coisen'atcr  of  Transylvania  tradition  so  far 
that  he  horrified  his  medical  friends  and  fel- 
lows of  our  local  medical  societies  by  advo- 
cating teaspoonful  doses  of  calomel  in  the 
treatment  of  bilious  and  other  fevers. 

But  the  glory  and  fame  of  Cooke  is  a 
strangely  negative  one.  Of  this  Dr.  David  W. 
Yandell  in  his  Seini-Centennial  Doctorate  ad- 
dress at  the  University  of  Louisville,  tells  the 
story.  "Dr.  Cooke,  reading  from  his  desk  in 
Louisville,  saw  in  bile,  yellow  bile,  and  black 
bile,  the  hands  on  the  dial-plate  of  disease 
which  pointed  unerringly  to  the  one  and  only 
treatment.  The  three  biles  constituted  his 
medical  trinliy,  and  appealing  to  this  he  com- 
pressed his  means  of  cure  into  one  drug,  and 
that  drug  was  calomel.  This  he  gave  in  huge 
doses,  by  day  and  by  night,  in  season  and  out 
of  reason,  first,  last,  and  all  the  time." 

But  a  pathologA'  so  narrow  could  not  long 
sumive,  and  a  practice  which  trusted  the  aw- 
ful issues  of  life  and  death  to  a  single  agent 
failed  to  satisfy  the  growing  intelligence  of 
the  people.  Physicians  at  large  assailed  the 
patliology.  The  public  rejected  the  practice. 
^\nd,  as  extremes  do  so  often  meet,  there  grew 
up  with  this  such  strong  opposition,  that,  out 
of  it  came  a  sect  which  condemned  as  poisons 
all  medicines  derived  from  the  mineral  world, 
and  found  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  alone 
their  remedial  agents.  This  sect  called  itself 
Eclectic.  Tt  was  founded  by  Samuel  Thomp- 
son, a  man  of  much  mother-wit,  great  shrewd- 
ness, and  but  little  knowledge,  and  for  a  time 
it  held  large  sway  throughout  the  country. 
The  sovereign  metal  of  Dr.  Cooke  was  driven 
from  the  field  by  steam,  lobelia  and  number 
six.  But  if  it  were  permitted  this  ingeuous, 
original  man,  to  look  down  upon  the  practice 
of  to-day,  he  would  have  the  satisfaetion  of 
seeing  the  remedy  on  which  he  rested  all  his 
hopes  come  out  bravely  from  the  eclipse  which 
ij-mporarily  obscured  it.  His  pathology,  es- 
sentially bad.  naturally  perished.  The  rem- 
edy  he  advocated,  essentiallv  good,  as  natur- 
ally survived  and,  under  wiser  restrictions,  .t 
ir.oro  eon'eel  pathology,  and  enlightened 
interpretation  of  its  action,  is  at  present  in 
more  general  use  than  at  any  prev.QUs  time  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Eclecticism,  too,  has 
peri.shed ;  another  proof  that  "what  is  xiseful 
will  last,  what  is  useless  will  sink," 

In  testimony  of  the  above  who  has  not  heard 
and  is  not  to-day  hearing  people  talk  of 
Cooke's  pills-  The  formula  of  that  famous 
creation  is  for  each  pill,  calomel  gr.  1-2,  aloes 
and  rhubarb  aa  gr.  j.  soap  gr,  1-2,  Wliat  a 
letting  do\ra  from  the  dosage  prescribed  by 


the  master  in  his  prime.  To  reach  ami:hing 
like  Cooke's  original  dosage  of  calomel, 
through  these  pills,  the  patient  would  be  com- 
l)elled  to  take  not  less  than  a  peck  of  them. 

The  winning  features  of  Cooke's  character 
were,  earnestness,  sincerity,  devotion,  love, 
charity,  and  piety. 

Collins,  the  historian,  tells  this  story  illus- 
trating the  depth  of  his  convictions,  "One 
Sunday  morning,  waiting  on  some  of  his  fam- 
ily to  get  ready  for  church,  the  Methodist 
church,  of  which  he  and  they  were  members, 
he  picked  up  a  discourse  by  the  Reverend  Doc- 
tor Chapman,  then  an  Episcopal  clergjmian 
of  Lexington.  The  argument  for  the  Old 
Church  of  England  attracted  his  attention. 
He  perused  and  studied  it  fully,  sent  for  all 
the  available  authorities  on  the  subject ;  stud- 
ied them  with  such  efiEect  that  at  once  he 
changed  his  communion  to  the  Episcopal 
Church  and  was  ever  after  a  rigid  and  zealous 
jiillar  to  that  church,  and  an  industrious  stu- 
dent of  the  writings  of  the  theological 
fathers."  The  dogma  that  drove  him  into 
this  church  was  the  apostolic  succession. 

Cooke  was  not  a  pleasing  speaker.  Accord- 
ing to  the  elder  Yandell,  he  lacked  dramatic 
talent  and  thought ;  always  eai-nest,  and  en- 
thusiastic at  times,  he  had  no  turn  for  wit  or 
ridicule.  He  was  near-sighted,  wore  glasses, 
and  delivered  his  lectures  with  a  feeble  voice, 
labored  articulation,  and  awkward  gestures. 
His  doctrine  though  erroneous  was  easy  to  un- 
derstand, sparing  the  student  time,  and  the 
trouble  of  studying  the  many  pathological 
and  therapeutic  features  not  involved  in  it. 
Moreover,  it  was  promulgated  with  such  logic, 
earnestness  and  sincerity  that  it  was  readily 
accepted,  believed,  and  practiced  by  the  ma- 
jority of  them.  As  a  statement  of  his  doe- 
trine,  ajid  a  sample  of  his  diction,  style,  and 
logic  I  quote  the  following  from  his  Essay  No, 
1  on  Autumnal  Epidemics.  "We  have  abund- 
ant reason  to  believe  that  these  wasting  pesti- 
lences are  the  effects  of  a  dense  gas,  the  pro- 
duct of  the  decomposition  of  vegetable  matter. 
The  agent  in  q\;estion,  commonly  distinguish- 
ed by  the  name  of  mjasmat<i,  causes  the  blood 
of  those  who  are  exposed  to  its  influence  to  be 
of  a  darker  colour  than  common.  Good^vin's 
experiments  on  the  connexion  of  life  with  res- 
piration show,  that  when  the  blood  is  dark- 
coloured,  it  does  not  stimulate  the  heart  to  as 
vigorous  action  as  when  it  is  of  the  usual  col- 
our :  and  therefore  that  under  the  influence  of 
this  dai'k-coloured  blood,  the  action  of  the 
heart  is  weakened.  Weakened  action  of  the 
heart  is  actually  obsei-ved  always  to  occur  in 
the  commencement  of  aritunmal  diseases, 
This  state  of  the  heart  necessarily  and  inevit- 
ably produces  aceiimulation  of  blood  in  the 
vena  cava  and  its  great  branches.  Internal 
congestion  or  acr-umulation  is  also  observed 
actuallv  to  occur  in  these  diseases.    Accumula- 


MEDICAL     PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


6y 


tion  of  blood  in  the  vena  cava  cannot  exist 
witliout  extending  into  the  large  veins  of  the 
head,  the  liver,  the  stomach  and  bowels,  and 
tlie  kidneys:  and  consequently  affecting  all 
these  parts.  Universal  experience  shows  that 
Ihey  are  all  affected  in  the  diseases  in  question. 
From  accumulation  of  blood  in  the  interior 
and  its  consequent  absence  from  the  exterior, 
must  also  result  paleness,  shrinking  and 
diminution  of  the  temperature  of  the  external 
surface;  while  the  sudden  presentation  of  an 
increased  action,  if  it  be  capaible  of  it  at  the 
time.  These  effects  are  also  observed  to  occur 
in  connection  with  the  others,  above  stated,  in 
the  diseases  produced  by  the  agent  in  ques- 
tion. It  appears  therefore  that  this  agent, 
miasmata,  by  rendering  the  blood  dark-col^ 
oured,  weakens  the  action  of  the  heart;  the 
consequence  of  which  are  weakness  of  the 
pulse,  diminution  of  the  bulk  of  the  external 
parts  of  the  body,  shrinking  of  the  features 
and  of  the  skin,  jjaleness  and  coldness  of  the 
surface ;  together  with  accumulation  of  blood 
in  the  vena  cava  and  its  branches  whence 
arises  pain  in  the  head,  comatose  affections, 
convulsions,  delirium,  disordered  secretion  of 
the  liver,  nausea  and  vomiting,  trant  of  appe- 
tite, disordered  bowels  and  kidneys,  the  con- 
\nilsive  agitation  of  ague,  and  increased  action 
of  the  heart,  which  produces  increased  colour, 
temperature,  and  bulk  of  the  external  parts. 
These  symptoms,  with  some  others  arising 
from  the  same  cause,  constitute  the  paroxysm, 
viz. :  the  cold  and  the  hot  stages  of  a  fever : 
tliey  are  moreover  the  leading  features,  pres- 
ent in  all  autumnal  diseases." 

Such  reasoning  is  strong,  simple,  and  was 
convincing  in  his  day,  the  only  fault  being 
tliat  it  was  not  tnie.  It  prevailed  for  nearly  a 
half  a  century,  but  a  reaction  had  long  beei» 
brewing,  and  the  opjiosition  to  his  doctrine  be- 
came formidable.  In  fact,  his  influence  had 
so  visibly  declined  from  the  day  he  entered 
Louisville,  "that  in  1843  he  was,  on  petition 
of  his  students,  '/etired  on  a  three  years  pen- 
sion of  two  thousand  dollars  per  annum." 
During  the  ten  years  following  his  downfall 
he  lived  in  seclusion  upon  a  small  farm  east  ot 
Louisville,  where,  according  to  Dr.  L.  P.  Yan- 
dell,  Sr.,  he  died  a  martyr  to  his  own  theory 
and  practice.  Says  Dr.  Yandell:  "his  prac- 
tice on  himself  'was  of  the  same  heroic  charac- 
ter that  he  pursued  with  his  patients.  He 
bled  himself  at  once  copiously,  and  repeated 
the  operation  again  and  again  as  symptoms 
appeared  to  him  to  demand  it,  at  the  samt 
time  keeping  up  purgation  with  calomel.  Ex- 
posed as  he  was  on  his  farm,  these  attacks  bei 
came  frequent,  and  his  constitution,  naturally 
enfeebled  by  increasing  years,  at  length  gavt 
way  under  them."  Thus  closed  the  career  of 
a  great,  and  influential  physician,  and  a  gen- 
tle, noble  and  sincere  soul. 

In  these  davs  full    etiological    light,  scien- 


tiflcally  exact  surgery,  and  medicine  rapidly 
aiDproaehing  that  goal,  the  young  physician  is 
prone  to  undervalue,  if  he  does  not  despise, 
the  work  of  the  ante-bacteriological  masters  in 
medicine.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
they  blazed  their  way  through  a  primeval  for- 
est, and  out  of  dense  darkness  brought  much 
truth  to  light.  Exact  science  was  not  theirs, 
and  their  only  line  of  procedure  was  through 
logic,  pliilosophy  and  metaphysics.  All  honor 
to  them,  they  did  all  that  the  knowledge  of 
their  time  permitted  them  to  do.  They  were 
students,  scholars,  thinkers,  and  logicians. 
Not  a  few  of  them  were  graceful,  facile  and 
polished  writers,  and  it  is  to  be  deeply  regret- 
ted that  their  talents  were  not  devoted  to  liv- 
ing themes,  instead  of  topics  which  made  them 
the  unintentional  products  of  an  obsolete  lit- 
erature, voluminous  and  vast. 


PPtOFESSOR   WILLIAM   HALL   RICH- 
ARDSON. 

-By  Robert  Peter,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Lexington. 

Taught  in  the  Medical  Department  of  Tran- 
sylvania until  the  time  of  his  death  in  1844, 
and  was  highly  respected  by  his  pupils  as  a 
practical  teacher  in  his  especial  chair,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  he  had  not  had  the 
advantage  of  a  college  education.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  energy  and  of  many  admirable 
traits  of  character.  His  pupil,  the  late  Dr. 
Lewis  Rogers,  in  his  address  as  President  of 
the  Kentucky  State  Medical  Society  in  1873. 
thus  spoke  of  his  old  preceptor  and  friend: 

"Few  men  ever  had  nobler  traits  of  char- 
acter. He  was  warm-hearted,  brave,  and  a 
siiicere  friend.  I  knew  him  from  my  earliest 
boyhood,  and  have  passed  aiway  m.any  happy 
and  instructive  hours  at  his  anasrnificent  hom.e 
in  Fayette  County.  His  hospitality  was  pro- 
fuse and  elegant.  I  listened  to  his  public 
teachings  as  a  professor  with  interest  and 
care,  because  I  knew  he  taught  the  truth  as 
far  as  he  po.ssessed  it.  He  was  not  scholariy 
or  graceful  and  fluent  as  a  lecturer,  but  he 
was  ardent  and  impressive,  sufficientlv  learn- 
ed in  his  special  branch,  amd  had  at  his  com- 
mand a  large  stock  of  ripe  experience.  I 
honor  his  memory  beyond  most  men  I  have 
known." 

In  1819,  a  new  and  brilliant  era  for  the 
University,  and  for  the  Medical  Department 
of  Transylvania,  was  inaugurated  by  the  an- 
pointment  of  Reverend  Horance  Hollev,  LL. 
D..  to  the  Presidency  of  the  University.  Doc- 
tor Samuel  Brown  vras  recalled  to  the  chair  of 
the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  which 
he  retained  until  1825.  Doctor  Charles  Cald- 
well was  induced  to  remove  from  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  had  an  official  connection 
with  the  LTniversity  of  Pennsylvania,  and  ac- 
cept the  chair  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine 


70 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


and  ^^a1eria  ^Mediea  here,  thus  completing  the 
organization  with  the  existing  ijrofessors, 
IJenjamin  AV.  Dudh\v.  and  William  H.  Rich- 
ai'dson,  and  the  election  of  Reverend  James 
Blythe  (o  the  chair  of  Chemistry.  The  cele- 
brated naturalist  and  author  of  the  first  "His- 
\viy  of  Kentucky,"  C.  S.  Raiinesque,  was  also 
selected  to  lecture  on  Botany  and  Natural 
History  in  this  and  the  following  year. 


One  of  his  greatest  pleasures  was  in  his  ex- 
tensive hej'barium  with  the  native  plants  of 
Kentucky  collected  by  himself,  as  well  as  those 
from  other  regions  obtained  by  the  exchange 
of  specimens  with  the  various  botanists  of  the 
world,  Anth  whoRi  he  corresponded  individual- 
ly and  extensively.  He,  in  conjunction  with 
Professors  H.  IT.  Eaton,  H.  A.  Griswold,  and 
Robert  Peter,  contributed  to  the  Transylvania 


DOCTOR  WILLIAM   H.   RICHARDSON 

Died  In  1844 


DOCTOR  CHARLES  WILKINS  SHORT. 
Bv  RorsERT  Peter,  A.  M.,  'M.  D.,  Lexington. 

Dr.  Charles  Wilkins  Short  was  born  at 
"Oreenfields."  Woodford  County,  Kentuckv, 
October  6,  1704.  He  connected  himself  with 
the  ^Medical  Department  of  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity in  1825.  He  had  been  called  by  the 
Trustees  in  a  previous  year  to  the  chair  of  ila- 
tei'.'rt  ^rediea  and  Medical  Botany,  but  did  not 
at  once  accept. 

Dr.  Short  was  a  most  upright,  conscientious, 
modest,  undemonstrative  gentleman  of  great 
deli'pcy  of  feeling.  He  was  a  most  zealous 
and  industrious  botanist,  and  was  possessed 
of  artistic  tastes  and  abilitv. 


Jo'urnal  of  Medicine  several  papers  on  the 
plants  of  Kentucky,  and  wrote  for  that  peri- 
odical several  papers  on  this  subject  and  on 
medical  topics,  as  well  as  numerous  obituary 
notices  of  medical  men.  He  was  not  the  au- 
thor of  any  large  treatise. 

In  1845.  he  wrote  "Observations  of  the 
Botany  of  Illinois,"  published  in  the  Western 
Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery. 

In  the  early  volumes  of  the  Transylvania 
Jonrnnl  also  appeared  his  notices  of  two  re- 
markable cases  which  occurred  in  Lexington. 
One.  of  supposed  spontaneous  combustion  of 
the  human  body,  and  the  other  of  paralysis  ot 
the  kidneys. 

At  his  death  his  vast  collection  of  botanical 


MEDICAL     PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


73 


specimens,  in  the  formation  of  which  he  took 
such  delight,  and  to  which  he  had  devoted  so 
great  a  portion  of  his  life,  was  bequeathed  to 
the  Smithsonian  Institute  at  Washington,  but 
there  was  no  appropriate  place  there  in  which 
to  display  so  large  a  collection,  and  it  is  now 
in  possession  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences at  Philadelphia.  During  his  life  no  less 
than  five  of  the  distinguished  botanists  of  the 
age  honored  his  name  by  attaching  it  to  six 
new  genera  and  species  of  plants. 

His  lectures  to  the  medical  students  on  Ma- 


Doetor  Short  severed  his  connection  with 
the  Transylvniiia  ^Torlipal  School  in  1838  to  be 
allied  with  Dodois  ( 'aid well,  Cooke,  and  Yan- 
dell  in  the  Mcdifjil  Institute  of  Louisville,  in 
which  he  remaiued  until  1849,  when  his  col- 
leagues eleeted  him  Emeritus  Professor  of 
Materia  IMedica  and  Botanj^  He  died  at  his 
beautiful  country  residence,  ''Hayfield, "  near 
Louisville,  on  ilareh  7,  1863,  aged  sixty-nine 
years. 

Doctor  Short's  father  was  Peyton  Short, 
who  came  to  Kentuckj'  from  Surry  County, 


DOCTOR  CHARLES  WILKINS  SHORT 
1794--1863 


teria  Medica  and  Medical  Botany  he  always 
i-ead  from  his  manuscript,  which  detracted 
somewhat  from  his  impressiveness.  He  was 
too  modest  to  trust  himself  to  oral  discourses. 
Yet  his  piipils  were  always  closely  attentive 
and  respectful,  holding  him  and  his  teachings 
in  high  esteem. 

He  was  Dean  of  the  Medical  Faculty  of 
Transylvania  for  about  ten  years. 

For  some  years  he  was  co-editor  of  the 
Ti:Tn.9ylvariia  Joitninl  of  Medicine  with  Doc- 
tor Cooke.  This  quarterly  they  founded  in 
Lexington  in  1828. 


Virginia,  and  -whose  mother  was  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Sir  William  Skipwith,  Baronet. 
His  mother  was  Mary,  daughter  of  John 
Cleves  Symmes,  formerly  of  Long  Island,  who 
filled  various  oi^ces  of  honor  and  trust  in  Cin- 
cinnati. His  sister  was  the  wife  of  Doctor 
Benjamin  Winslow  Dudley.  His  brother  was 
the  late  Judge  John  Cleves  Short,  of  North 
Bend,  Ohio.  He  married  Mary  Henry 
Churchill  Of  his. six  children,  one  son  and 
live  daughters.,  all  were  prosperous  in  life. 

The  early  education  of  Doctor  Short  was  in 
the  school  of  the  celebrated  Joshua  Fry,  and. 


72 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOURNAL. 


in  ISIO,  he  graduated  with  honor  in  the 
Academical  Department  of  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity,  beginning  soon  afterward  the  stndy 
of  medicine  with  his  uncle.  Professor  Fred- 
erick Tiidgely.  He  repaired  to  Philadelphia 
in  1813  and  became  a  private  pupil  of  Doctor 
Casper  Wistar,  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the 
University  of  Pennsjdvania,  in  which  univers- 
ity Doctor  Sh-ort  received  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  I\redicine  in  the  spring  of  1815,  returning 
shortly  after  to  Kentucky.  Dr.  Short  was  a 
consistent  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 


versity  of  Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  took 
the  Doctorate  degree  in  due  time. 

In  1793  yellow  fever  desolated  the  old  town 
of  Philadelphia,  and  decimated  its  inhabi- 
tants ;  but  here  the  young  physician,  like  Sav- 
anorola  in  plague  stricken  Florence,  stood  tirm 
and  faithful  to  duty,  and  to  science,  distin 
guishing  himself  alike  as  a  practitioner  and 
philanthropist.  Not  long  after  this  he  ap- 
l^ears  as  a  TJnited  States  Surgeon,  and  gained 
fame  by  his  treatment  of  the  wounded  in  the 
"Whiskey  Insurrection"  of  Western  Pennsyl- 


DOCTOR  CHARLES  CALDWELL 
1772-1853 


DOCTOR  CHARLES  CALDWELL. 

By  Henry  A.  Cottell,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Louisville 

Dr.  Charles  Caldwell,  the  son  of  an  Irish 
officer,  and  emigrant  to  America,*  was  born 
in  Oas^vell  County,  North  Carolina,  Mav  14th, 
1772.  He  died  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  July  9th, 
1853,  at  the  age  of  81.  He  must  have  been 
a  precocious  child,  for  at  14  he  was  a  scholar 
in  the  classics.  For  the  three  years  folloAving 
he  taught  successively  in  two  grammar 
schools.  At  the  close  of  this  work  or  soon  af- 
ter, he  entered  the  Medical  School  of  the  Uni- 


vauia.  His  career  as  a  surgeon  must  have  been 
short,  since  his  voluminous  wi'itings  contain 
little  or  nothing  relative  to  that  great  branch 
of  the  healing  art. 

His  inclination  certainly  was  toward  the 
more  scientific  and  theoretic  features  of  his 
calling  For  in  1795  he  translated  from  the 
Latin,  Bluembach's  Elements  of  Physiologj'. 
In  1814  he  assumed  the  editorship  of  the  Port 
Folio  at  Philadelphia,  and  at  this  time  became 
Professor  of  Natural  Historj-  in  the  Univers- 
ity of  Pennsylvania.  While  in  this  Chair  he 
edited  Cullen's  Practice  of  Phj^sic.    He  was  a 


MEDICAL    PIONEEBS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


73 


pioneer  in  the  teaching  of  Clinical  Medicine  in 
j-\raerica  and  perhaps  the  Creator  of  that 
branch  of  pedagogy,  for  in  the  above  named 
year  we  find  him  delivering  a  course  of  clinic- 
al lectures  in  the  Philadelpliia  Alms  Hovise 
afterwards  and  now  known  as  Blockley  Hos- 
pital. This  was  doubtless  the  Alms  House  in 
■which  the  yellow  fever  of  1793  made  such 
feai'ful  havoc,  and  which  became  historical 
in  the  classic  lectures  of  Prof  T.  S.  Bell. 

In  1819  Dr.  Caldwell  proved  himself  a  his- 
torian by  writing  the  "Life  and  Campaigns 
of  Gen.  Green ' ' ;  the  most  valuable  of  his 
works  in  biography.  A  man  so  learned,  versa- 
tile, and  brilliant,  attracted  the  attention  of 
educators  the  country  over,  and  a  call  from 
the  West  brought  him  to  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky, where  he  was  given  the  Chair  of  Med- 
icine and  Clinical  Practice  in  the  famous  old 
Transylvania  Medical  School.  This  was  also 
in  the  year  1819.  He  made  a  tour  of  Europe 
in  the  interest  of  that  School  in  1820.  His  so- 
journ in  Tjexington  was  for  IS  years,  and 
tliere  he  became  famous  amongst  other  ac- 
complishments, as  an  advocate,  student, 
writer,  and  teacher  of  the  long  ago  exploded 
fad  of  phrenology.  Here  he  "i^'as  the  friend 
and  physician  of  Henry  Clay  who,  in  his  great 
speech  in  the  United  States  Senate  upon  the 
Poiudexter  Resolution,  thus  humorously  re- 
fers to  his  friend  and  physician.  "A  new 
philosophy  has  sprung  up  within  a  few  years 
pa.s't,  called  phi'enology.  There  is,  I  believe, 
something  in  it,  but  not  quite  as  much  as  its 
ardent  followers  proclaim.  According  to  its 
doctrines,  the  leading  passions  propensities 
and  chnracteristics  of  every  man  are  develop- 
ed in  his  physical  conformation,  chiefly  in  the 
structure  of  his  head.  Gall  and  Spurzheim, 
its  founders,  or  most  eminent  propagators,  be- 
ing dead,  I  regret  that  neither  of  them  can  ex- 
amine the  head  of  our  illustrious  Chief  Magis- 
trate (Andrew  Jackson).  But,  if  it  could  be 
surveyed  by  Dr,  Caldwell,  of  Transylvania 
University.  T  am  persuaded  that  he  would 
find  the  organ  of  destructiveness  prominently 
developed.  Except  an  enormous  fabric  of  ex- 
ecutive power  for  himself,  the  President  has 
built  np  nothing,  constructed  nothing,  and 
will  leave  no  enduring  monument  of  his  ad- 
ministration." 

Tn  1837  Dr.  Caldwell  came  to  Louisville. 
This  was  because  of  a  break  in  the  medical 
faculty  of  Transylvania,  Dr.  Caldw'ell  coming 
with  Drs.  Cooke  and  Yandell  to  take  chairs  in 
the  Louisville  l\redieal  Institute.  Out  of  this 
school  gi'ew  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
UnivcT'sity  of  Louisville,  in  the  foundation  of 
which  Dr.  Caldwell  was  the  leading  spirt.  To 
him.  was  allotted  the  same  chair  he  had  held  in 
Transylvania,  and  he  continued  teaching 
Medicine  and  Clinical  Practice  there  for  a 
term  of  twelve  years.  Through  a  misunder- 
standing with  the  Trustees^  he  was,  in  1849, 


deprived  of  his  profesorship ;  but  made  Louis- 
ville his  home  until  his  death,  July  9th,  1853. 
These  four  years  he  spent  in  study  and  work 
with  the  pen,  contributing  profusely  to  medic- 
al journals  and  periodicals,  and  in  writing  his 
Autobiography.  He  was  a  deep  student,  an 
omnivorous  reader,  and  untiring  writer.  His 
works  are  almost  as  voluminous  as  those  of 
Daniel  Drake,  and  number  in  the  aggregate 
more  than  10,000  pages.  The  reader  will  see 
in  selections  which  I  quote  from  Caldwell's 
Autobiography  the  lucidity  of  his  diction,  the 
felicity  of  his  style,  the  depth  of  his  thought, 
and  the  facility  with  which  he  drew  upon  his 
store  of  learning  for  strengthening  and  orna- 
menting his  thought.  Charles  Dickens  could 
not  have  excelled  the  first,  nor  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson  the  second.  The  first  two  para- 
graphs relate  to  two  preachers.  ' '  The  appear- 
ance of  the  speaker,  unpromising  as  it  was. 
and  nature,  in  her  most  frolicsome  mood, 
could  hardly  have  rendered  it  more  so,  was  ex- 
ceeded, if  possible,  by  the  failure  of  his  per- 
formance. His  oratory,  instead  of  being,  as 
I  had  anticipated,  the  most  highly  finished 
and  delightful  1  had  ever  listened  to,  was 
much  nearer  being  the  most  defective  and  mis- 
erable. Not  only  was  it  tasteless  and  uaat- 
tractive,  it  was  a  rare  and  high-fin- 
ished specimen  of  unsophisticated  unpalat- 
ableness.  From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
Ills  sermon,  the  gentleman  so  courtesied,  bob- 
bed, and  tip-toed  from  side  to  side  of  the  pul- 
pit, and  so  finically  gesticulated  with  his 
hands  and  arms,  as  actually  to  resemble  a 
conceited  dancing-master  moving  in  a  minuet. 
A]id  his  utterance  was  precisely  the  counter 
part  of  his  action.  Nor  was  the  substance  of 
his  discourse  much  more  commendable" 

So  much  for  preacher  No.  1 ;  now  for  No.  2. 
"No  sooner  had  he  formally  assumed  his  at- 
titude as  an  orator,  throwTi  toward  the  several 
divisions  of  the  house  a  corresponding  num- 
ber of  devout  and  solemn  casts  of  his  eyes,  and 
commenced  his  discourse,  than  I  felt  an  im- 
pulse of  disappointment,  mingled  with  feelings 
dissatisfaction  and  disgust,  that  was  actual- 
ly painful  to  me.  Could  I  have  made  my  way 
to  the  door,  without  being  noticed,  I  should 
have  promptly  left  the  house  and  returned  to 
my  lodgings.  But  that  was  impossible.  I  was 
therefore  compelled  to  brace  myself  to  the 
Herculean  task  of  sitting  a  full  hour  under  the 
infiuence  of  a  discourse,  marked  in  its  delivery, 
by  a  degree  of  drawling  sing-song,  and  snuf- 
fling nasal  twang,  that  would  have  better  suit- 
ed the  time  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  than  to  the 
close  of  the  eigtheenth  century;  and  that 
would  have  fallen  more  aptly  from  the  tongue 
of  .1  "Praise  God-Bare-Bones"  of  the  former 
period,  than  from  that  of  a  much  lauded  or- 
ator of  the  latter. ' ' 

The  next  two  paragraphs  discuss  a  theme 
of  uniA'ersal  application.  "What  is  called  a 


KENTUCKY    MEDKAL    .JOlh'SAL. 


'  universal  genius, '  is  a  creation  as  fabulous  as 
the  phoenix  or  the  griffin.  It  exists  only  in 
fiction,  not  in  reality.  No  man  has  ever  yet 
jiossossod  it.  eonsistii'^g,  as  the  expression  rep- 
i-esents  it  to  do.  in  a  fitness  for  the  pursuit  and 
attainment  of  eminence  in  every  sort  of  knowl- 
edge. Whoever  has,  therefore,  expended  hi.s 
energy  in  an  attempt  to  distinguisli  himself 
in  a  branch  of  science,  for  tlie  study  of  which 
he  was  not  well  qualified,  has,  by  the  measure, 
detracted  more  or  less  from  the  distinction  he 
might  have  acquired  in  some  other  branch  to 
\\hieli  liis  (jualifications  were  better  suited." 

"To  this  rule  the  history  of  our  race  does 
not  present  us  with  a  single  exception.  It  is 
as  true  of  tlie  most  highly  as  of  the  moder- 
ately and  lowly  gifted,  of  Socrates  and  Plato, 
Cicero  and  the  admirable  Crichton,  as  of  any 
other  individuals.  Had  the  great  Roman 
orator  wasted  less  of  his  mental  energy  in 
paying  court  to  the  IMuses,  he  would  have  be- 
queathed to  lis  a  reputation  marked  by  one 
vanity,  and  one  intellectual  weakness,  the 
fewer.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Paracelsus, 
Vanholmont,  Cardan,  and  othei's;  had  thev 
thought  and  written  less  about  occult  science, 
its  source  and  influeuee;  of  Cuvier,  had  he 
consumed  less  of  his  time  in  the  considera- 
tion and  pursuit  of  affairs  of  state ;  and  of 
Laplace,  had  he  devoted  himself  more  ex- 
clusively to  mathematics  and  astronomy,  and 
left  to  ecclesiastics  and  casuists  the  mysterie,? 
of  theology.  Each  of  those  per.sonages,  by 
aiming  at  too  many  attainments  and  perform- 
ances, expended  a  portion  of  his  vital 
strength,  as  well  of  his  time,  in  an  unprofit- 
able if  not  an  in.iurious  manner." 

Of  his  personnel  we  have  a  glimpse.  He  is 
tlms  sketched  and  characterized  by  Dr.  David 
W.  Yaudell  in  his  Doctorate  Address,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Semi-Centennial  Anniversary 
of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Universitv 
of  LouisA-ille.  1887. 

"The  central  figure  of  that  group  of  noted 
teachers  who  founded  the  University  was 
Charles  Caldwell.  He  was  a  massive  man  in 
body  and  in  inind.  He  was  both  tall  and 
broad.  His  carriage  was  erect.  His  head  was 
simply  grand,  his  moiith  was  large,  his  eyes 
were  bluish  gray.  He  had  studied  elocution. 
His  gestures  and  his  speech  were  studied  also. 
I!is  manners,  usually  cold,  were  always  state- 
l.v.  He  spoke  in  long,  well-rounded  periods, 
and  in  a  great  sonorous  voice.  He  was  learned 
in  the  languages,  fond  of  study,  and  of  ab- 
stemious habits.  Besides  all  this  he  was  a  man 
of  affairs,  and  delighted  in  controversy.  He 
taught  the  physiology-  of  his  day,  which  was 
then  largeh'  the  ph.vsiology  of  the  ancients, 
but  he  taught  it  in  so  impressive  a  manner 
that  his  classes  received  it  as  gospel  and  voted 
him  its  greatest  expoiinder." 


DOCTOR  LrXSFORD  P.  YAXDELL,  .Sr. 
Ijy  Robert  Peter,  A   ;\I.,  11.  D.,  Lexington. 

Dr.  Yandell  was  called  to  the  chair  of 
Chemistry  and  Pharmacy  in  the  Medical  De- 
partment of  Transylvania  f  niversitj'.  !March 
16.  1831.  He  had  attejided  the  course  of  Lec- 
tures in  that  school  in  1822-23.  having  previ- 
ously acquired  a  good  general  and  classical 
education  in  the  Bradley  Academy,  !Murfrees- 
boro,  Tennessee,  and  having  studied  medicine 
some  time  ^vith  his  father.  Dr.  Wilson  Tan- 
dell,  a  physician  of  high  standing. 

While  attending  the  lectures  in  the  Tran- 
sylvania 31edical  School  he  became  favorably 
knO'Wn  as  a  young  man  of  industry,  ^od  at- 
tainments and  abilitv,  and  of  popular  man- 
ners. Especially  was  he  a  favorite  pupil  of 
Professor  Charles  Caldwell,  who  became  his 
ardent  friend,  and  through  whose  active  in- 
fluence, mainly,  he  was  called  in  1831,  after 
he  had  received  the  degree  of  M,  D.  from  the 
University  of  IMaiwland,  to  occupy  the  chair 
of  Chemistry  in  the  Transylvania  School. 

Although  he  had  been  an  apt  scholar  in  his 
preliminary  education,  he  had  never  devoted 
especial  attenKon  to  chemistry,  which  at  that 
time,  notwithstanding  the  neglect  or  opposi- 
tion of  the  older  medical  teachers,  notably  the 
ridicule  of  Professor  Caldwell  and  others,  was 
beginning  to  be  recosnized  as  an  essential  ele- 
ment of  a  good  m>=dical  education. 

This  want  of  special  training  and  experi- 
ence in  this  branch  of  science  on  his  part  nat- 
urally caused  opposition  to  his  appointment  to 
this  chair,  which  was. allayed  by  making  the 
late  Hez4dah  Hulbert  Eaton.  A.  IsL.  an  ad- 
.iuuct  to  the  Chemical  chair,  and  giving  him 
one-third  of  the  tuition  fees. 

Professor  Eaton  was  a  young  man  of  fine 
attainments  and  thorough  practical  training 
in  chemistiy  and  natural  science  generally :  a 
gradnate  of  Rensselaer  Tirstitute  of  Troy. 
New  York,  under  the  administration  of  his 
father,  the  cderated  Amos  Eaton. 

Professor  Eaton  died  of  consumption  at  thp 
age  of  twent7.--thi'ee,  before  the  end  of  the  first 
year ;  but  durin?  the-  short  term  of  his  service 
he  had,  by  his  industrv  and  practical  knowl- 
edge, greatly  improved  the  means  of  instruct- 
ion in  the  Chemical  Department  by  a  complet-^ 
reorganizalioii  of  the  laboratory  and  the  pro- 
curement of  !nuch  new  apparatus. 

After  the  death  of  Profes.sor  Eaton,  .\ugust 
16.  1832.  the  present  writer,  then  residing  in 
Pittsburs:.  Peunsylvania.  who  had  also  been  a 
student  in  the  Rensselaer  Institute  and  conse- 
quently Icuown  to  Professor  Eaton,  was  per- 
suaded by  the  late  Reverend  Benjamin  On 
Peers  to  visit  Lexington,  Kentucln'.  to  deliver 
a  course  of  Hiemical  lectures  in  the  Eclectic 
Tn.stitute.  of  which  ^Ir.  Peers  was  principal, 
and  of  which  younar  Professor  Eaton  had  been 
a  professor.    During  this  eoiirse.  in  1832,  the 


MEDICAL    PIONEEhiS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


75 


writer  was  indiioed  by  Professor  Yandell,  by 
private  arrangement,  to  assist  him  in  lais  next 
eoui'se  of  lectures  to  the  regular  students  of 
Ti'ansjdvania  aiid  to  co-'nanence  the  regular 
study  of  medicine  with  a  view  to  graduation. 

Under  this  arrangement,  which  continued 
until  the  disruption  of  the  Medical  Faculty  in 
1837,  Doctor  Yandell.  in  his  usual  able  and 
la-illiant  manner,  delivered  the  chemical  lec- 
tures to  the  students,  while  to  the  writer  was 
committed  the  preparation  and  performance 
of  the  demonstrative  experimental  parts. 

On  the  removal  to  Louisville  in  1837,  to  join 
in  the  establishment  of  the  rival  school,  the 
Louisville  Medical  In^iitute,  Doctor  Yandell 


Trustees  of  the  school,  having  come  to  the  con- 
elusion  that  Professor  Caldwell  had  beeomt? 
superannuated,  placed  Doctor  Yandell  in  the 
chair  of  Physiology,  for  which  subject  he  had 
a  decided  taste.  This  change  procured  him 
the  animosity  of  his  whilom  friend.  Doctor 
Caldwell,  who,  in  his  rather  unfortunate 
Autobiography,  written  in  his  last  declining 
years,  indulged  in' much  bitter  denunciation 
of  his  late  colleague.  It  is  much  to  the  credit 
of  Doctor  Yandell  that,  although  when  this 
angry  publication  was  fresh  from  the  press  he 
retaliated  bj^  showing  in  ample  quotations 
fro'n  the  autobiography  some  of  the  weak 
points  in  Doctor  Caldwell's  character,  he  was 


DOCTOR  LUNSFORD  P.  YANDELL,  Sr. 

:805--I878 


taught  in  the  combined  chairs  of  Chemistry 
and  Materia  Medica,  never  failing  ably  and 
impi'essively  to  perform  his  arduous  duties. 
Not  having  any  particular  taste  for  so  severe 
a  study  as  practical  chemistry,  although  no 
one  was  more  impressed  with  the  philosopliic- 
al  beauty  and  wide  practical  value  of  the  sci- 
ence, he  naturally  sought  a  transfer  to  a  chair 
more  congenial  w^ith  his  tastes  and  the  charac- 
ter of  his  mind  than  that  of  chemistry.  This, 
circumstances    prevented    until,  in  1849,  the 


years,  as    the  writer 
these    weaknesses  the 


disj^osed  in  following 
knows,  to  extend  over 
mantle  of  kindness. 

Doctor  Yandell  occupied  this  chair  of 
Physiology  with  great  credit  until  he  resign- 
ed, in  1859,  to  accept  a  chair  in  the  Medical 
School  of  Memphis,  Tennessee.  During  the 
Civil  AYar  he  devoted  himself  to  hospital  ser- 
vice. In  1862,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  by 
the  Presbytery  of  l\Iemphis,  and  in  1864  was 
ordained  pastor  of  the  Dancyville  Pres:byteri- 


KENTVCKY    MEDICAL    JOURXAl,. 


an  church.  He  resigned  his  pastorate  in  1867, 
and  returned  to  Louisville  to  resume  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine,  wliich  he  had  never  entirely 
al)andonod  during  the  whole  of  his  life. 

Wliile  I'esident  in  Lexington  he  was  foi 
some  years  sole  editor  of  the  Transylvanifi 
Jouninl  of  Medicine,  to  which  he  contributed 
sevral  able  papers.  In  Loiusville  he  was  ed- 
itor for  some  time  of  the  Western  Journal  of 
McJicii'c  and  Surgery,  in  both  eases  filliiig 
tlie  editorial  chair  with  characteristic  activ- 
ity and  ability.    He  was  always  a  contributor 


Louisville,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was 
President  of  the  State  ^ledicai  Society  of  Ken- 
tuckj'.  His  decease  occurred  February  4 
187S,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age. 


DOCTOR  JAMES  MILLS  BUSH. 

By  Robert  Peter,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Lexington. 

.\  native  of  Kentuckj',  bom  in  Frankfort, 
May,  3808.  graduated  .as  A.  B.  in  Centre  Col- 
lege, Danville,  Kentuek\',  and  began  the  study 
of  medicine  and  surgery  in  the  ofiSce  of  the 


DOCTOR  JAMES  M.  BUSH 
1808^-1375 


to  the  medical  literature  of  his  day  in  numer- 
ous papei-s,  especially  in  biographical  sketches 
and  obituaiy  memoirs  of  medical  men  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee,  a  more  complete  collect- 
ion of  which  he  was  said  to  be  pj-eparing  at 
the  time  of  his  last  illness.  He  held  a  facile 
peri;  fe^v  writers  of  our  times  have  produced 
more  classical  and  gi-aceful  essays.  As  a 
public  .speaker  and  lecturer  he  was  ever  ini- 
pi-essive.  graeefid,  and  chaste.  His  social 
qualities  made  him  always  welcome  and  prom- 
inent in  all  public  assemblies  of  his  medical 
brethren.  In  1872,  he  was  elected  President 
of  the  College  of  Physeiaus  and  Sm-geons  of 


celebrated  Alban  Goldsmith,  Louisville.  Ken- 
tucky. He  removed  to  Lexington  in  1830,  to 
attend  medical  lectures  in  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity, and  to  become  a  private  pupil  of  its 
reno'rtTied  surgeon,  Professor  Benjamin  "W. 
Dudley.  To  Doctor  Dudley  he  became  per- 
sonally attached  by  sentiments  of  affection 
and  esteem,  which  were  warmly  returned  by 
his  eminent  preceptor;  so  that,  when  young 
Bush  received  the  honor  of  the  degree  of  Doc- 
tor of  iledicine  in  1833,  Doctor  Dudley  im- 
mediately appointed  him  his  demonstrator 
and  prosector  in  anatomy     and    surgery,  to 


MEDICAL    PIONEER."^     OF     KENTUCKY, 


which  branches  of  medical  science  and  art 
Doctor  Bush  was  ardently  devoted. 

T'lis  responsible  office  he  filled  with  emin- 
ent ability  and  success  until  1837,  when  he 
was  offieiaUy  made  Adjunct  Professor  of 
Anatomy  and  Surgery  to  his  distinguished 
colieag'ue  and  friend,  Doctor  Dudley.  He  oc- 
cupied this  honorable  position  to  the  great 
satisfaction  of  all  concerned  until  the  year 
LSll,  when  he  became  the  Professor  of  Anat- 
omy, Doctor  Dudley  retaining  the  chair  of 
Surgery.  In  the  chair  of  Anatomy  he  con- 
tinued until  the  dissolution  of  the  Transyl- 
vania Medical  School  in  1857. 

In  the  meanwhile  this  school,  in  1850,  had 
been  changed  from  a  winter  to  a  summer 
school:  Doctor  Bush,  with  some  of  his  col- 


Lewis  Rogers,  in  1873:  "When  Doctor  Dud- 
ley retired  from  teaching.  Doctor  Bush  was 
appointed  to  the  vacant  chair.  When  Doctor 
Dudley  retired  from  the  field  of  his  brilliant 
achievements  as  a  surgeon  Doctor  Bush  had 
the  rare  coui-age  to  take  possession  of  ii.  No 
higher  tribute  can  be  paid  to  him  than  to  say 
that  he  has  since  held  possession  without  a 
saecessful  rival." 

i'\Iost  abh^  and  successfully  did  he  thus 
maintain  himself  as  one  fit  to  follow  in  the 
footsteps  of  our  great  surgeon.  His  sterlin:^ 
qualities  as  a  man,  his  most  kind  and  endear- 
ing manners  as  a  physician,  his  great  skill  and 
experience  in  anatomy  and  surgery,  which 
had  been  as  well  the  pleasure  as  the  devoted 
labor  of  his  life;  his  remarkable  accuracy  of 


THE  HOME  OF  DOCTOR  BUSH,  IN  LEXINGTON. 

Built  on  the  site  of  the  Transylvania  University  Medical  Hall. 


leagues  and  some  physicians  of  Louisville, 
having  thought  proper  to  establish  the  Ken- 
tucky School  of  Medicine  in  Louisville  as  a 
winter  school.  In  this  latter  college  Doctor 
Bush  remained  for  three  sessions,  giving  thus 
two  full  courses  of  lectures  per  annum,  when 
he  and  his  Lexington  colleagues,  resigning 
from  the  Louisville  school,  returned  to  that  of 
I^exington,  re-establishing  a  winter  session. 

Doctor  Bush  was  ever  a  most  conscientious 
and  ardent  laborer  in  his  profession,  and, 
during  the  lifetime  of  his  preceptor,  Doctor 
Dudley,  vpas  his  constant  associate  and  assist- 
ant as  well  in  the  medical  school  as  in  his 
medical  and  surgical  practice.  On  the  retire- 
ment of  that  distinguished  surgeon  and  pro- 
fessor, his  mantle  fell  upon  Doctor  Bush.  In 
the  language  of  his  friend,  the  late  Doctor 


eye,  the  more  acute  because  of  congenital  my- 
opia, his  delicacy  of  hand  and  unswerving 
nerve  in  the  use  of  instruments  in  the  most 
difficult  operations,  endeared  him  to  his  pa- 
tients and  won  the  respect  and  admiration  of 
his  medical  brethren. 

Doctor  Bush  was  a  lucid  and  impressive 
teacher  of  his  peculiar  branch  of  medieal  irt 
and  science,  and  always  attached  his  pu[)ilrj 
strongly  to  him  as  an  honored  preceptor  and 
friend. 

During  his  active  lifetime,  spent  chiefly  in 
acquiring  and  putting  in  practice  the  rare 
pi'ofessional  skill  which  distinguished  him,  he 
gave  but  little  time  to  the  use  of  his  ])en. 
Hence  he  left  no  large  book  as  the  record  of 
his  experience.  His  principal  writings  were 
p\iblished,  in  1837,  in  the  tenth  volume  of  the 


7S 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JdCRNAL. 


Transylvania  Journal  of  Medicine,  and  these 
were  written  for  that  joui-uai  on  the  solicita- 
tion of  tlie  present  writer,  who  edited  that 
volume.    They  consist  of : 

1.  A  short  report  of  a  case  of  epilepsy, 
prodiieed  in  a  negro  girl  by  blows  of  the  wind- 
lass of  a  well  on  the  parietal  bone,  wliich  was 
euiii'eh"  and  speedily  cured,  after  the  isreliui- 
inary  treatment  of  mercurial  purgatives  and 
low  diet,  by  the  use  of  the  trepiue,  which,  as 
is  Avell  known,  had  been  used  with  great  suc- 
cess by  Doctor  Dudley  in  such  cases. 

2.  Report  of  a  case  of  insidious  inflamma- 
tion of  the  pia  mater,  complicated  with  pleur- 
itis,  witli  the  autopsy. 

o.  A  more  estejided  paper,  entitled  "Re- 
marks on  Mechanical  Pressure  Applied  by 
Me.ms  of  the  Bandage;  Illustrated  by  a  Va- 
net}^  of  Cases.'  In  which  the  mode  of  ap- 
plication and  modus  operandi  are  most  clear- 
ly given,  and  iUnstrated  by  many  interesting 
eases,  mostly  from  tlie  surgical  practice  of 
Doctor  Dudley. 

4.  "Dissection  of  an  Idiot's  Brain."  The 
subject,  a  female  twenty-five  years  of  a^ge,  had 
been  born  idiotic,  deaf,  and  dumb;  the  head 
was  very  small,  and  the  hrain  on  dissection 
wfis  found  to  weigh  only  twenty  ounces,  an*;! 
to  have  large  serous  cavities  in  the  corneal 
portions  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres.  The 
anatomy  of  the  eyes  was  perfect,  but  there 
was  no  nervous  connection  between  the  optic 
nerve  and  the  thalmi  nervorum  optieomm. 

o.  A  short  iiotice  of  three  operations  of 
lituotomy.  performed  on  May  31,  1837,  by 
Doctor  Dudley,  with  his  assistance. 

6.  "Interesting  Autopsy."  On  the  body 
of  a  negro  man  wbo  had  been  the  subject  of 
sudden  falling  fits,  and  was  under  treatment 
for  diseases  of  the  chest.  The  autopsy  dis- 
closed hypertrophy  of  the  I'lglit  side  of  the 
heart,  and  a  most  remarkable  lengthening  of 
the  colon. 

7.  "Observations  on  the  Operation  of 
Lithotomy,  Illustrated  by  Cases  from  the 
Practice  of  Professor  B.  W.  Dudlej'. "  An 
extensive  and  lucid  description  of  the  method 
of  operation  and  the  remarkably  successful 
e.\perience  of  Doctor  Dudley  in  this  part  of 
liis  practice,  giving  report  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty-two  successful  eases  np  to  that  time. 

In  addition,  the  Doctor  contrilrated  an  oc- 
casional bibliographical  review  or  notice. 
And  these  seem  to  be  the  whole  -of  his  pub- 
lisli-d  pj'ofessional  writings. 

Dr.  Bush  was  married,  in  1835,  to  IMiss 
t'liarlotte  -Tames,  of  Chillicothe,  Ohio.  Of 
then-  three  children  the  eldest,  Benjamin 
Dudley,  was  a  young  man  of  remarkable 
promise  as  a  surgeon  and  physician  when  he 
was  cut  off  by  death,  an  event  which  east  a 
gloom  over  tb.e  remaining  days  of  the  life  of 
ids  father.     Few  young  men  of  his  age  had 


ever  attained  such  proficiency  or  developed 
such  sterling  qualities. 

The  death  of  Doctor  Bush,  which  took  place 
on  Februaiy  14,  1875,  was  followed  by  gener- 
al and  unusual  ma;iifestations  of  respect  and 
I'egret  not  only  on  the  part  of  the  members  of 
tlie  pi'ofession.  but  by  the  people  of  the  city 
at  large.  Few  citizens  were  more  extensively 
known,  loved,  and  honored  in  life,  or  follow- 
ed to  the  grave  by  a  greater  concourse  of 
mourning  friends. 


DOCTOR  ROBERT  PETER. 

By  Rei'ben  T.  Durrett^  Esquiee  Louisville. 

CLate  President  of  the  Pilson  Club.) 

The  late  Doctor  Robert  Peter,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  analytical  chemists  of  his 
time,  was  a  member  of  the  IMedical  Faculty 
of  Transylvania  University  from  1833  to  the 
time  of  the  dissolution  of  that  institution,  and 
aftei'ward  occupied  chairs  in  the  different  col- 
leges with  which  Transylvania  was  merged, 
lie  was  one  of  the  most  active  of  the  pro- 
f' ssors  and  did  as  much  as  any  one  else  to 
j'aise  the  University  to  the  lofty  heights  it  at- 
tained as  a  school  of  literature,  law,  and  med- 
icine. It  occurred  to  him  after  the  merger  of 
the  Transylvania  into  the  Kentuctv  tlnivers- 
ity  that  an  institution  which  had  led  the  way 
and  done  so  much  for  literature,  law,  and 
medicine  should  not  be  permitted  to  vanish 
and  leave  nothing  but  a  name  and  memory  be- 
hind. He,  therefore,  went  to  work,  after  the 
weight  of  years  was  gathering  fast  upon  him, 
to  write  the  history  of  Transylvania  Univers- 
ity, and  had  his  work  almost  finished  in  1894, 
when  death,  which  alone  could  have  arrested 
Idm  in  his  undertaking,  relieved  him  of  the 
task  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine.  His  daughter, 
^liss  Johanna  Peter,  with  filial  affection  wor- 
thy of  so  excellent  a  father,  and  public  spirit 
equal  to  the  occasion,  rightly  estimated  the 
value  of  such  a  work,  if  it  should  be  published 
and  put  into  the  hands  of  the  public,  under- 
took to  prepare  his  manuscripts  for  publica- 
tion. One  of  these,  manuscripts  prepared  by 
her  embraced  the  Literary  Department  of 
Transylvania,  and  was  published  by  The  Fil- 
sou  Club  in  1896,  as  its  eleventh  volume. 
AVlien  this  publication  was  made,  it  was  iu- 
limated,  if  not  promised,  that  it  would  be  fol- 
lowed in  tlie  near  future  by  one  of  the  medic- 
al department.  jMiss  Peter,  therefore,  pre- 
pared tliis  second  manuscript  of  her  father 
Icr  publication,  and  The  Filson  Club  now  pre- 
sents it  in  the  pages  which  follows,  as  the 
twentieth  number  of  its  regular  annual  series. 

The  J\Iedical  Department  of  the  Tr-^insylvan- 
ia  University  no  longer  exists.  Indeed,  noth- 
ing of  the  Transylvania  University  exists  ex- 
cept its  name.  Its  learned  professors  have 
gone  the  way  of   all    flesh.     The    last  one  of 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL'S     OF    KENTUCKY, 


79 


them  recently  went  down  to  his  grave.  Its 
Iraildings  have  recently  been  swept  away  by 
fire,  or  have  passed  to  other  institutions  with 
its  library  and  apparatus.  Yet  all  of  this  re- 
nowned University  has  not  passed  away.  Its 
fame  yet  lives,,  and  will  not  perish  wliile  the 
memory  of  the  living  holds  sacred  the  good 
deeds  of  predecessors.  Its  distinguished  pro- 
fessors  made    Transylvania   University   fam- 


twentieth  publication  of  The  Filson  Club,  the 
manuscript  will  make  its  way  to  many  and 
pi-esent  them  with  pen  and  portrait  likenesses 
of  those  who  devoted  their  lives  to  instructing 
the  young  of  our  land  in  the  art  of  adminis- 
tering to  the  sick  and  afflicted.  The  author 
knew  all  of  his  contemporary  professors,  and 
the  likeness  which  he  has  given  of  some  of 
the'n  wiU  be  the  ones  by  which  they  will  be 


DOCTOR  ROBERT  PETERS 

180S-1894 


ous,  and  made  history  at  the  same' time,  and 
they  theinselves  are  now  entitled  to  a  place  in 
history.  It  is  the  purpose  of  The  Filson  Club, 
b}^  this  publication,  to  assist  in  securing  for 
them  the  place  they  deserve  in  the  memory  of 
mankind.  Doctor  Peter,  the  author  was  the 
fittest  of  men  to  sketch  these  professors  and 
to  present  life  pictures  of  them.  His  work, 
however,  if  it  had  remained  in  manuscript,  as 
he  left  it,  would  have  been  seen  but  by  few, 
and  could  have  done  but  little  good.    In  this 


known  in  after  years.  Pen  pictures  are  some- 
times as  efficient  as  likenesses  in  oil,  and  the 
cliaracteristic  of  Doctor  Peter's  pictures  is  fi- 
delity so  executed  that  they  seem  to  be  the  or- 
iginals standing  in  life  before  us.  In  a  work 
like  this  the  essence  of  its  history  is  biographic 
and  Doctor  Peter  has  made  his  work  to  con- 
sist chiefly  of  biographical  sketches  of  those 
who  made  Transylvania  University  what  it 
was.  He  gives  the  leading  facts  in  tlie  life  of 
each  of  the  professors  he  skei:ohes,  and  enum- 


so 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURXAL. 


crates  tlip  oilier  colleges  in  which  they  occu- 
pied chairs.  Mild  srives  the  titles  of  the  works 
they  puiilishod  cither  in  hook  form  or  maga- 
zine articles.  He  omits  nothing  in  the  sketch 
tliat  is  necessary  in  forming  a  just  idea  of  the 
character  portrayed. 

In  the  long  career  of  Transj'lvania  Univers- 
itj''  she  did  not  fail  to  make  enemies,  but  she 
made  more  friends  than  enemies  to  remember 
her.  A  few  of  the  living  students  and  the 
many  descendants  of  the  deceased  professors 
and  graduates  now  scattered  broadcast  over 
the  land  will  be  glad  to  read  what  is  here  said 
of  old  Transylvania,  and  the  woi-k  will  thus 
be  widely  known  and  read.  All  who  see  it 
will  be  thankful  to  Doctor  Peter  for  prepar- 
ing it  for  the  press,  and  to  The  Filson  Club 
for  publishing  it. 

There  is  in  our  nature  something  like  the 
love  of  the  relic  which  makes  tis  revere  the 
memory  of  Transylvania  University.  Early 
in  the  year  1799  a  medical  department  was  at- 
tached to  this  University,  which  was  the  first 
medical  college  in  the  great  ^Mississippi  Val- 
ley and  the  second  in  the  whole  United  States. 
The  medical  department  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  antedated  it,  as  it  antedated  all 
others  afterward  established  in  any  part  of 
our  vast  domain.  We  can  not,  like  our  Eng- 
lish coiisins.  go  back  along  the  pathway  of 
centuries  to  the  colleges  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge and  revere  them  for  their  age ;  we  have 
nothing  in  our  new  country  that  partakes  of 
such  age.  We  are  a  young  people  in  a  young 
country,  and  our  Traaisylvania  ^ledical  Col- 
lege was  old  enough  from  our  standpoint  to 
be  crowned  with  hoary  years.  "We  revere  it 
as  the  first  medical  college  on  this  side  of  the 
Alleghanies.  "We  revere  it  for  the  efforts  it 
made  to  prepare  our  young  physicians  to  cope 
with  the  diseases  that  afflicted  our  people. 
"We  revere  it  for  the  fame  it  acquired  and  for 
the  good  name  it  gave  our  State.  "We  revere 
it  for  the  success  of  Professor  Brown  in  in- 
troducing vaccination  in  advance  of  its  dis- 
coverer, for  the  brilliant  and  numerous  opera- 
tions in  lithotomy  by  Professor  Dudley,  and 
for  the  noble  efforts  of  others  of  its  professors 
in  prolonging  human  life  and  mitigating  its 
pains.  "What  it  did  in  the  day  of  its  glory  is 
set  forth  in  the  pages  which  follow,  and  he 
who  reads  thciii  will  hardly  doubt  that  the 
medical  department  of  Transylvania  Univers- 
itv  is  worthv  of  the  record  here  made  for  it. 


DOCTOR  HENRY  :\rARTYX  SKILOIAX. 
By  John  "W.  Scott,  M.  D.,  Lexington. 

Doctor  Skillman  was  the  youngest  child  of 
Thomas  T.  and  Elizal.'eth  Farra  Skillman:  he 
was  born  September  4,  1824  at  Lexington, 
Kentucln-.  His  father  came  to  Lexington 
from  New  -Jersey  in  1809  and  founded  the 
largest  publishing  house  in  the  ^Mississippi 
Valley:  publishing  in  1823  an  edition  of  sev- 
eral thousand  copies  of  the  entire  bible. 

He  received  his  academic  education  at 
Transylvania  University  and  after  two  or- 
three  years  in  tlie  drug  business  re-entered 
Transylvania  as  a  student  of  Medicine  and  re- 
ceived  from  it  the  degre  of  Doctor  of  ^Medicine 
in  1 S47.  The  following  year  he  was  made 
Deiijonstrator  of  AnatomA-  in  the  Colleee  and. 
in  1851  was  appointed  Professor  of  CTcneral 
ajid  Pathological  Anatomy  and  Physiology-. 
Such  a  chair  in  a  modern  school  would  re- 
C(uire  the  aeti-^dties  of  some  half  dozen  full 
pi-ofessorships.  to  say  nothing  of  scores  of  as- 
sistants and  laboratory  workers.  Yet  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  is  said  to  have  "occupied 
this  position  with  .skill  and  success  until  the 
close  of  the  IMedical  College  in  1857."  This  is 
an  illuminating  commentary  upon  the  pro- 
gress of  ^Medicine  in  the  last  half  century. 

In  1851  he  married  Margaret  Scott  the 
daughter  of  IMatthew  T.  Scott.  President  of 
the  Northern  Bank  of  Kentuclrs";  one  child, 
Henry  M.  Skillman.  sui'vives  him.  For  the 
succeeding  twenty-five  yeare  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  practice  of  both  medicine  and 
surgery:  in  1877  his  nephew.  Doctor  IMatthew 
T.  Scott,  entered  into  practice  with  him  and 
all  of  Doctor  Skillman 's  surgical  work  wag 
transferred  to  him :  from  that  time  until  his 
death  on  "March  21,  1902  he  continiied  the 
active  practice  of  his  pi-ofession,  having  done 
a  day's  work  on  the  day  upon  whicli  he  died. 
Tn  addition  to  his  large  practice  he  found 
time  for  out.?ide  affairs :  he  was  an  active 
member  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
a  director  of  the  Security  Trust  Company 
and  occupied  other  similar  positions. 

Thre  was  a  benediction  about  Ms  face,  a 
power  of  peace  and  love  in  his  smile,  a  charm 
in  liis  entire  pei'sonality  which  defies  descrip- 
tion: Avith  a  great  sympathetic  heart  he  com- 
bined the  most  knightly  courtesy :  this  gave 
him  a  bearing  at  the  bedside  which  none  who 
witnessed  it  can  ever  forget?  there  was  so- 
licitude withoitt  anxiety,  cheer  without  gay- 
ety,  dignity-  witho\it  coldness  and.  withal,  a 
poise  which  inspired  confidence  in  not  only 
the  will  but  the  ability  to  help.  The  same 
character  was  shown  in  his  relation  to  other 
members  of  the  pi-ofession.  Tn  addition  to 
the  most  scrupulous  observance  of  its  ethics, 
there  was  an  imfailing  kindness  and  gener- 
ositv  which  was  shown  toward  the  humblest 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


81 


of  his  colleagues  in  the  same  measure  as  to  the 
most  distinguished. 

To  the  profession  his  career  was  particular- 
ly notable  in  three  particulars :  first,  in  that  it 
was  given  to  him,  as  it  has  been  to  few  men,  to 
occupy  a  position  of  eminence  in  the  practice 


thousai:J!  to  a  city  of  more  than  thirty  thou- 
sand ;  he  was  the  relentless  enemy  of  discord 
iiud  evil  speaking  among  doctors,  and  an  irre- 
sistible peace  maker  in  the  profession  for  over 
half  a  century. 

To  those  who  revere  the  memory  of  the  old 


DOCTOR  HENRY  M.  SKILLMAN 

1824--1902 


of  medicine  for  more  than  half  a  century, 
having  been  made  a  member  of  the  fa.culty  of 
the  Medical  Department  of  Transylvania  in 
18.51;  and  at  the  time  of  his  death,  fifty-one 
years  later,  still  probably  the  most  sought  for 
consultant  in  Lexington,  which  during  that 
time  he  had  seen  grow  from  a  town  of  eight 


Transjdvania  and  its  Sledieal  Department, 
Doctor  Skillman  was  notable  as  the  last  sur- 
vivor of  its  medical  faculty  and,  with  Doctor 
John  W.  Wliitney,  his  intimate  friend,  the 
connecting  link  for  many  of  us  to  that  heroia 
age,  that  Twilight  of  the  Gods,  the  Transyl- 
vania Medical  Faculty. 


OLD  MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  LOUISVILLE 

Erected  In  1838 

w  occupied  by  the  City  Public  School  Department,  the  Medical  School  beine  conducted 
in  the  commodious  new  building  at  Chestnut  and  First  Streets. 


III.    LOUISVILLE  MEDICAL  SCHOOLS'  GROUP 


FOREWORD 


I.     THE    MEDICAL    DEPARTl'IENT    OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  LOUISVILLE. 

The  reader  will  find  a  concise  account  of 
the  movement  which  transferred  the  famous 
medical  school  of  Transylvania  University 
from  Lexingrton  to  Louisville  in  Professor  I/, 


ed  actively  in  the  changing  events  of  that 
period.  The  professors  who  resigned  from 
Transylvania  and  accepted  chairs  in  the  Lou- 
isville IMedical  Institute  soon  found  them- 
selves surroiuided  with  large  classes  of  young 
men  from  all  sections  of  the  great  and  grow- 
ing south-west.  After  a  few  years  (1845)  the 
Medical  Institute  was  constituted  the  JMedical 
Department  of  the  newly  chartered  Univers- 
ity of  Louisville.     With  the  prestige  of  the 


DOCTOR  JAMES  M.  BODINE 

1831--191S 

For  more  than  forty  years  Dean  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University 
of  Louisville,  and  a  great  teacher  of  anatomy. 


P.  Tandell's  address  which  is  in  gTeat  part 
reproduced  herewith.  This  address,  intro- 
ductory to  the  course  of  instruction  of  1852- 
1853,  was  delivered  at  a  time  when  all  the 
facts  were  known  and  by  one  "who  participat- 


great  men  composing  the  faculty,  the  school 
continued  upon  a  career  of  great  prosperity 
and  usefulness.  Large  classes  filled  its  lec- 
ture-rooms, the  professoi's  wrote  some  of  the 
most  authoritative  and  erudite  text-booh",  cf 


84 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOVEXAL. 


that  day,  and  by  both  the  spoken  and  writ- 
ten word  moulded  medical  tliought  and  prae 
tiee  throughout  a  great  and  prosperous  sec- 
tion of  the  country.  Tn  1849  the  Faculty  was 
constituted  as  follows: 

Samuel   D.    Gross,   Professor   of   Surgery; 


Eogers,  Professor  of  ilateria  ilediea;  Daniel 
Drake,  Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice  of 
iledicine;  Tobias  G.  Richardson,  Demonstra- 
tor of  Anatomy.  Professor  Cobb  was  Dean  of 
the  Faculty. 

In  lSo2  Dr.  Daniel  Drake  and  Dr.  Jebe- 


DOCTOR  WILLIAM  BAILEY,  A.  M. 

1833-1911 
A  teacher  in  the  Medical  Schools  of  Louisville  from  the  days  of  the  Civil  War 
until  his  death;  a  medical  veteran  of  the  war:  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Health  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  President  at  the  time  of  his  death;  President 
of  the  State  Society  and  of  the  American  Public  Health  Association,  and  one  of  the 
most  beloved  physicans  and  consultants  Louisville  ever  had. 


Henry  Miller,  Professor  of  Obstetrics;  Jebe- 
diah  Cobb,  Professor  of  Anatomy;  Lunsford 
P.  Yandell,  Professor  of  Physiologj-;  Benja- 
min Silliman,  Professor  of  Chemistry;  Lewis 


diah  Cobb  resigned  their  chairs  and  were  suc- 
ceeded by  Dr.  Austin  Flint  and  Dr.  Benjamin 
R.  Palmer.  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  a  native  of 
r>Iassachusetts.    had  taught  in    Buffalo.  New 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


85 


York,  and  in  New  Orleans,  before  coming-  to 
Louisville.  Later  he  aided  in  founding  the 
Hellevue  Hospital  Medical  College,  in  New 
York,  where  for  many  years  he  taught  and 
practiced  with  eminent  renown,  Dr.  Benja- 
min R.  Palmer  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and 
won  distinction  as  a  teacher  of  Anatomy. 

Great  names  are  these.  They  were  borne  by 
men  of  profound  thought,  intense  energy  and 
impressive  personality.  They  moulded  med- 
ical science  as  taught  in  America,  and  educat- 
ed a  generation  of  practitioners  of  medicine. 
While  in  Lotiisville  Professor  Gross  wrote  his 
famous  treatise  on  Pathological  Anatomy, 
and  the  first  edition  of  his  monumental  work 
entitled  a  System  of  Snrgery.  While  teach- 
ing in  the  University  of  Ijouisville,  Professor 
Hint  laid  the  foundation  for  his  great  text- 
book on  the  Science  and  Practice  of  Medicine. 
Professor  Miller  wrote  his  well-known  treatise 
on  Obstetrics  published  in  1849,  which  became 
a  standard  text-book.  No  two  books  in  the  his- 
tory of  American  medicine  have  been  so  mni- 
versally  accepted  by  the  pi'ofession  as  authori- 
tative as  were  the  iworks  of  Gross  and  Flint. 
Bomid  in  strong  sheep-skin  they  were  to  be 
found  in  the  office  of  every  American  phy- 
sician, in  the  city,  hamlet  and  country,  and 
were  for  many  years  the  trusted  guides  in 
diagnosis,  pathologj^  and  treatment. 

As  time  advanced,  with  increasing  popula- 
tion and  improved  facilities  of  travel,  many 
changes  have  taken  place,  but  throughout  and 
until  the  present  day,  the  Univereity  and 
its  many  graduates  in  all  parts  of  the  country 
have  maintained  its  traditions.  The  history 
of  this  school  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  chap- 
ters in  the  medical  annals  of  Kentuckj'-.  After 
more  than  a  half  century  of  prosperous 
achievement,  the  University  was  selected  by 
unanimous  vote  as  the  parent  school  in  merg- 
ing the  medical  schools  of  Louisville.  In  1907 
the  3Iedical  Department  of  Kentucky  Uni- 
versity, Louisville's  youngest  medical  school, 
was  merged  with  the  University  of  Ijouisville. 
The  following  year  .the  Kentuckj'  School  of 
Medicine,  the  Louisville  Medical  Coljege  and 
the  Hospital  College  of  Medicine  joined  in  the 
merger,  and  thereby  united  into  one  school 
under  the  title  and  charter  of  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  University  of  Louisville. 
It  is  gratifying  to  record  that  in  this  present 
time  this  famous  old  school,  the  only  medical 
school  in  the  Com^monwealth,  'maintains  a 
worthy  position  in  the  highest  grade  of  Ameri- 
can medical  colleges. 


IT.     THE    KENTUCKY   SCHOOL   OF 
MEDICINE. 

From  time  immemorial  medical  schools  have 
been  centres  of  professional  jealousy,  intrigue 
and  antagonism.  That  this  should  be  seems 
somewhat  illogical  when  we  realize  that  the 
faculties  of  tlie  colleges  were  composed  of  men 
selected  by  reason  of  their  ability,  learning 
and  distinguished  position.  Nevertheless,  the 
lust  of  power  and  preeminence,  the  jealousies 
born  of  rivalrj^  at  close  range,  produce  their 
logical  results  here  as  elsewhere  in  the  field 
of  human  endeavor. 

At  the  period  of  which  we  write,  the  med- 
ical schools  offered  the  only  direct  avenue  to 
prominence  and  leadership  in  the  profession. 
Hospitals  were  few  and  primitive,  medical  lit- 
erature was  scant,  and  medical  societies  did 
not  offer  the  opportunities  of  the  present 
time.  The  professors  in  the  medical  colleges 
were  accepted  leaders  and  authorities  of  the 
time,  and  the  colleges  offered  a  sure  road  to 
distinction.  Hence  there  were  many  aspir- 
ants for  places  in  thg  faculties  of  the  schools. 
Young  men  of  high  purpose  and  lofty  ambi- 
tion sought  the  subordinate  positions  in  the 
colleges  as  a  proper-,  and  legitimate  method 
of  improving  their  knowledge  and  advancing 
to  prominence.  In  this  way  very  naturally 
there  soon  became  numerous  applicants  for 
each  probable  vacancy,  and  the  most  reason- 
able outlet  for  the  congestion  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  medical  school. 

The  origin  of  siich  schools  will  almost  in- 
variablj-  be  foimd  in  factional  strife  within 
the  faculties  of  established  schools,  facilitated 
by  the  numerous  aspirants  for  professional 
positions  outside  the  schools.  In  tlie  early 
days  such  increase  in  the  number  of  colleges 
was  not  without  good  results  both  for  the  col- 
leges themselves  and  for  the  advancement  of 
the  profession.  The  competition  which  neces- 
sarily obtained,  stimulated  the  teachers  to 
better  work  and  fostered  a  spirit  of  rivalry 
which  was  helpful  to  both  teacher  and  pupil. 
It  was  only  in  later  times,  when  schools  were 
established  for  which  there 'was  really  no  good 
i-<'ason  for  their  existence,  that  the  multiplica- 
tion of  medical  schools  became  destructive  in- 
stead of  nonftiructive  agencies  of  professional 
progress. 

These  observations  are  suggested  by  the  faci 
that  in  1850,  when  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  University  of  Louisville  was  firmly  estab- 
lished in  professional  favor,  occupying  a  new 
and  eopunodious  building,  with  lai'ge  classes 
an,1  a  renowned  faculty,  application  was 
made  to  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  for  char- 
ter of  a  new  medical  college  to  be  known  as 
the  Kentucky  School  of  Medicine,  and  to  be 
located  in  the  city  of  Louisville.  The  charter 
was  granted,  and  at  the  head  of  its  first  fac- 
ulty appears  the  name  of  Benjamin  W.  Dud- 


«»; 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


ley,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  teachers  in  Tran- 
sylvania University  at  Lexington,  who  had 
strenuously  opposed  his  colleagues  in  the  re- 
moval of  that  school  to  Louisville.  Indeed 
Dudley  had  reorganized  the  faculty  after 
most  of  Ijis  colleagues  had  removed  to  Louis- 
ville, and  made  a  futile  effort  to  maintain  the 
old  school  at  Lexingtou.  The  establishment 
of  a  rival  school  in  Louisville  was  a  continua- 
tion doubtless  of  Dudley's  antagonism,  aided 
by  the  natural  desire  of  his  associates  in  the 
new     school     for     professional     distinction. 


will  be  found  many  names  familiar  in  Ken- 
tucky medicine: 

B.  W.  Dudley,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Anat- 
omy and  Surgery ;  John  Hardin,  Professor  of 
Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Chil- 
dren ;  Chaj'les  W.  Wright,  Professor  of-  Chem- 
isti-y  and  Toxicology ;  Heniy  W.  Bullitt.  Pro 
fessor  of  Physiology  and  Pathology' ;  Theo 
dore  S.  Bell,  Professor  of  Theoiw  and  Prae 
tice  of  ^ledicine ;  T.  6.  Richardson,  Professor 
of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgerj-;  N.  B. 
^Maj'shall.  Professor  of  ^ifateria  Sledica   and 


DOCTOR  WILLIAM   H.  WATHEN 

1S46--1913 

Dean  of  the  Kentucky  School  of  Medicine  for  thirty  years,  a 
leading  surgeon  and  erynecoloffist,  president  and  active  worker  in  the 
State  Medical  Society,  and.  as  Medical  Referee  in  Louisville,  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  suppression  of  quackery  in  Kentucky. 


Wliile  Dudley  did  not  remove  his  residence  to 
Louisville,  he  headed  the  faculty  for  several 
years  as  Emeritus  Professor  of  Surgery,  and 
gave  to  the  neiw  school  the  valuable  aid  of  his 
great  reputation  and  influence. 

The  new  school  brought  together  an  able 
faculty-  of  young  and  enthusiastic  men.  auu 
atti'aeted  excellent  classes.  The  following  lisi 
of  the  faculty  is  copied  from  the  annual  an 
nouncement  of  the  session  of  1856,  in  which 


Therapeutics:  John  S.  Seaton,  Professor  of 
Anatomy;  James  ~Sl.  Bodine,  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy. 

Among  others  will  be  observed  Theodore  S. 
Bell,  afterward  a  learned  Professor  in  the 
L'niversity;  and  Dr.  James  M.  Bodine.  for 
fort.v  years  the  popular  Dean  and  Pi-ofessor 
of  Anatomy  in  the  L'niversit.v.  Dr.  T.  G. 
Richardson,  the  Professor  of  Sm'gery,  was 
a  pupil  of  Pi-ofessor  Gross,  of  the  University 


MEDICAL    PIONEEllS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


87 


faculty,  and  for  several  years  a  teacher  of 
Anatomy  at  the  University.  He  was  the  au- 
thor of  a  text-book  of  Anatomy,  and  later  a 
disting-uished  teacher  of  Surgery  in  New  Or- 
leans. He  won  a  national  reputation  and  was 
elected  President  of  the  American  Medical  As- 
sociation. 

During  the  great  civil  war  this  school  was 
closed,  but  after  the  restoration  of  peace  it 
reopened  with  a  new  and  reorganized  faculty. 
A  few  years  later  the  faculty  and  trustees 
changed  the  timo  of  holding  the  annual  ses- 
sions from  the  fall  and  winter  months  to  the 
spring  and  summer  months,  a  change  which 
subserved  the  convenience  cyf  many  students 
of  medicine.  The  school  maintained  its  success 
and  with  an  aWe  faculty  and  large  classes 
continued  until  merged  with  the  other  schools 
in  the  University  of  Louisville.  At  the  time 
of  the  merger  the  school  occupied  a  commodi- 
ous college  building  of  its  own,  and  adjacent 
thereto  a  modern  well-equipped  hospital,  also 
the  property  of  the  school. 


III.     THE     LOUISA^HjLB    MEDICAL 
COLLEGE. 

On  July  25,  3868  the  surviving  trustees  of 
the  Clay  School  of  Medicine*  met  at  the  office 
of  Dr.  David  Cummings  in  Louisville.  The 
Board  of  Trustees  was  completed  by  the  elec- 
tion of  seven  new  trustees,  and  Hon.  Littleton 
Cooke  was  elected  President  and  Dr.  B.  M. 
Wible.  Secretary.  Ai  the  session  of  the  Leg- 
islature of  Kentucky  in  the  winter  of  1868-69 
the  eliaj'ter  was  amended  so  as  to  change  the 
name  of  the  school  to  "The  Louisville  Medical 
College. ' ' 

On  January  29,  1869  the  Board  of  Trastees 
elected  the  following  professors :  J.  D.  Burch 
and  R.  F.  Logan.  Anatomy;  John  Goodman, 
Obstetrics ;  Donald  Maclean,  Surgery ;  S.  P. 
Breekenridge,  Material  Medica ;  H.  M.  BuUiti, 
Physiology  and  Pathology;  J.  A.  Ouchter- 
lony.  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine.  The 
first  session  of  the  College  was  held  in 
]  869-70. 

During  the  following  year,  several  import- 
ant changes  were  made  in  the  faculty,  Drs. 
Burch,  Logan,  Maclean  and  Breekenridge  re- 
tired, and  Drs.  E.  S.  Gaillard,  J.  A.  Ireland, 
J.  M.  Keller,  C.  W.  Kelley  and  J.  W.  Max- 
well were  elected  professors.  Later  Dr.  J.  M. 
ITollowaj^  was  received  into  the  facult.y. 

The  college  at  once  met  with  favorable  rec- 
ognition from  the  profession,  and  the  classes 
increased  in  number'  until  the  attendance 
quite  equaled  that  of  the  University.    It  will 

*ThewritPr  has  not  been  able  tofind  any  record  of  the  Clay 
School  of  Medicine  beyond  the  mere  mention  contained  in 
the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Louisviile  Medi- 
cal College.  It  is  probable  that  a  charter  was  obtained  for 
such  an  Institution,  but  no  organization  was  perfected 
previous  to  this  date. 


be  observed  that  this  college  was  founded  soon 
after  the  close  of  the  great  Civil  War,  during 
that  period  of  rehabilitation  in  the  southern 
states  known  as  reconstruction.  Many  young 
men  who  had  been  in  the  army  sought  profes- 
sional careers.  The  professors  in  the  Louis- 
ville Medical  College,  with  few  exceptions, 
had  served  in  the  Medical  Corps  of  the 
Armies,  and  their  names  were  familiar  to 
southern  soldiers.  The  Dean,  Dr.  E.  S.  Gail- 
lard,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  owned  and 
edited  the  Richmond  and  Louisville  Medical 
Journal,  a  monthly  medical  magazine  with 
wide  circulation  throughout  the  8onth.  He 
was  a  cultured  physician,  an  impressive 
teacher,  and  wieldecl  a  facile  and  trenchant 
pen. 

Professor  Henry  Millei*,  long  a  prominent 
member  of  the  Faculty'  of  the  University,  ac- 
cepted a  professorship  in  the  Louisville 
iledical  Colleg'e  and  was  actively  identified 
with  the  new  school  for  a  number  of  years. 

This  College  maintained  its  prosperity  with 
an  able  faculty  and  large  classes  until  merged 
with  the  other  schools  into  the  University. 
The  magnificent  granite  building  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity was  built  by  the  Faculty  of  the  Louis- 
ville Medical  College. 


IV.     THE  HOSPITAL  COLLEGE  OF 
MEDICINE. 

In  1878,  an  additioiial  Medical  School  was 
founded  in  Louisville,  under  the  charter,  and 
by  authoritj'  of  the  Board  of  Curators  of  the 
Central  University  of  Kentucky.  This  Uni- 
versity was  located  at  Richmond,  and  was  or- 
ganized by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ken 
tucky.  The  Medical  School  was  established 
in  a  building  immediately  opposite  the  City 
Hospital  on  Chestnut  Street,  and  in  its  first 
announcement  gave  prominence  to  clinical 
teaching  as  its  most  distinctive  feature.  Thb 
Faculty  was  organized  as  follows: 

Dr.  E.  D.  Force,  Emeritus  Professor  of, 
and  Lecturer  on  Diseases  of  Women ;  Dr. 
John  J.  Speed,  Professor  of  the  Institute  of 
Medicine  and  Public  Hygiene ;  Dr.  James  M. 
HoUoway,  Professor  of  General  and  Clinical 
Surgery ;  Dr.  William  Bailey,  M.  A.,  Pro- 
fessor of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of 
Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine;  Dr.  John  T. 
Williams,  Professor  of  Descriptive  and  Sur- 
gical Anatomy:  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Boiling,  Pro- 
fessor of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women, 
and  Dean  of  the  Faculty ;  Dr.  John  A.  Larra 
bee,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Thera- 
peutics and  Clinical  Lecturer  on  Diseases  of 
Children;  Dr.  Frank  C.  Wilson,  Professor  of 
Physiologj'  and  Clinical  Medicine ;  Dr.  Dud- 
ley S.  Reynolds.  Professor  of  Ophthalmology 
and  Otology:  Dr.  J.  B.  Marvin,  B.  S.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Medical  Chemistry  and  Toxicology-; 


8« 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


Dr.  Martin  P.  Coomes,  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy  and  Lecturer  ou  Diseases  of  th(« 
Ear.  Throat  and  Nose. 

The  first  session  was  opened  with  a  small 
class,  but  within  a  few  years  the  Faculty  was 
rewarded  bj'  increased  patronage  and  favor- 
able recognition.  After  a  few  years  the  school 
became  well  established,  and  graduated  many 
physicians  who  attained  distinguished  posi- 
tions in  the  profession.  Later  the  time  of 
holding  the  annual  sessions  was  changed  to 
the  spring  and  summer  months,  and  this 
gi'eatly  increased  the  attendance.  The  school 
was  the  first  of  the  Louisville  schools  to  adopt 
tlie  three  years  graded  course,  and  by  doing 
so  won  the  commendation  of  the  profession. 
In  later  years  important  additions  were  made 
to  the  Faculty,  a  new  college  building  was 
erected  and  also  a  commodious  modern  lios- 
l^ital  T\-as  built  adjacent  to  the  college,  thereby 
providing  excellent  clinical  facilities.  At  the 
time  of  the  merger  (1908),  the  college  had 
large  classes  and  a  strong  faculty. 


V.    MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT   OF  KEN- 
TUCKY UNIVERSITY. 

In  1898  differences  arose  in  the  Kentucky 
School  of  iledicine  which  proved  irreconcilable 
and  terminated  in  complete  disruption  of  the 
faculty  of  that  institution.  As  a  result  a  new 
.school  was  established,  all  the  pi-ofessors,  with 
one  or  two  excpptions,  having  been  teachers 
in  the  Kentucky  School  of  Medicine.  The 
new  school  received  the  approval  of  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Kentuek\'  L'niversitj'  located  at 
Lexington,  and  the  Facult.y  was  empowered 
to  use  the  title  of  that  LTniversity.  The  Fac- 
ulty was  announced  as  follows: 

Dr.  Joseph  B.  jMarvin,  President ;  Dr. 
Thomas  C.  Evans,  Dean :  Dr.  James  J\I.  HoUo- 
way:  Dr.  C.  W.  Kelley:  Dr.  Sam  E.  Woody: 
Dr.  J.  Garland  Sherrill;  Dr.  Louis  Frank: 
Dr.  Leon  L.  Solomon  ;  Dr.  Henry  Euos  Tulev ; 
Dr.  Carl  Weidner;  Dr.  W.  Ed.  Grant. 

The  first  session  was  held  in  1899,  begin- 
ning in  January  and  terminating  in  June. 
Tile  members  of  this  Faculty  were  experienc- 
ed and  successful  teachers,  widely  known  to 
the  profession,  and  attracted  from  the  begin- 
ning excellent  classes.  They  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  work  with  great  enthusiasm,  and 
inspired  their  students  with  keen  interest  in 
the  school.  At  the  opening  of  the  second  ses- 
sion a  building  which  had  '  been  pur- 
chased by  the  Facility  and  remodeled  to  suit 
the  requirements  of  medical  teaching,  was  oc- 
cupied and  added  materially  to  the  facilities 
of  the  institution. 

The  school  maintained  a  successful  career, 
with  growing  classes,  until  1907.  when  it  was 
merged  into  the  iledical  Department  of  the 
University  of  Louisville. 


VI.   sum:\iary. 

When  in  1908  the  medical  schools  were 
merged  \-  'o  ofr,  transferring  their  pi'oper- 
ties  and  prestige,  and  joining  their  alumni  in- 
to one  body,  under  the  title  of  the  Medical  De- 
l^artment  of  the  University  of  Louisville,  a 
new  era  was  born  in  the  history  of  medical 
education  in  Kentucky.  The  transition  from 
the  old  order  to  the  new  regime  was  the  re- 
sult of  the  irresistible  foi-ces  of  eyolution> 
wherebj'  medicine  became  intimateh'  connect- 
ed with  biological  and  other  allied  sciences. 
^Medicine  became  a  science  and  ceased  to  be 
empirical,  and  medical  education,  conformed 
to  the  inevitable  change. 

The  old  system  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  ap- 
prenticeship which  in  early  days  was  the  es- 
tablished form  of  medical  pupilage.  A  pros 
pective  physician  or  surgeon  became  the  ap- 
prentice of  an  esta-blished  physician,  usually 
one  connected  with  an  hospital,  and  often  liv- 
ed in  the  master's  home.  He  paid  a  certain 
sum  for  board  and  tuition.  Later  this  rela- 
tion  was  known  as  preceptor  and  ofSce  pupiL 
which  continued  until  very  recent  times. 
Then  several  physicians  and  surgeons,  iisually 
connected  with  the  same  hospital,  handed 
themselves  together,  teaching  different 
branches,  and  took  pupils  in  common,  the 
student  paying  each  teacher  by  taking  his 
ticket  for  admission  to  his  lectures.  Thus  was 
established  the  so-called  proprietary  medical 
schools,  which  were  enlarged  from  time  to 
time  to  meet  the  advancing  requirements  of 
the  medical  curriculum. 

iluch  adverse  criticism  has  been  visited  up- 
on the  medical  schools  which  were  the  out- 
growth of  this  s^^stem  of  teaching.  While 
]nany  evils  undcubtedh'  existed,  and  the  com- 
mercial spirit  became  dominent  in  some 
places,  to  the  shame  of  the  profession,  these 
were  more  the  exception  than  the  rule.  Strict- 
ly speaking,  all  the  medical  schools  in 
America  would  have  to  come  under  the  head 
of  proprietary  schools  in  the  times  of  which 
we  are  writing.  "Wliile  in  many  instances  the 
college  property  was  owmed  by  a  ITiiiversity 
or  Board  of  Trustees,  the  Faculty  conducted 
the  business  of  the  college,  paid  the  expenses 
and  divided  the  students'  fees  among  the  pro- 
fessors. This  was  true  of  the  famous  schools 
in  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Boston  as  well 
as  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  This  system 
of  education  was  the  outgrowth  of  conditions 
then  existing  in  the  TTnited  States.  The  pop- 
idation  was  scattered  over  a  wide  territory, 
and  more  doctors  were  required  to  serve  the 
people  than  would  ohtain  in  a  smaller  area 
with  dense  population.  In  the  greater  part 
of  the  coimti-y  educational  facilities  were  in- 
adequate to  justifj'  a  high  preliminary  re 
quirement  of  the  medical  student. 


MEDICAL    PlONESnS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


la  Louisville,  while  the  University  of  Lou- 
isville owned  the  building,  and  Central  Uni- 
versity of  Kentucky  owned  the  building  of 
the  Hospital  College  of  Medicine,  the  connect- 
ion between  these  ITuiversities  and  the  medical 
schools  was  inerely  nominal  and  the  schools 
were  conducted  entirely  independent  of  the 
university  authorities. 

In  the  independent  medical  colleges,  the 
Boards  of  Trustees  exerted  practically  no 
control  over  the  standards  and  managemeni 
of  the  colleges,  the  faculties  being  in  unre- 
stricted authority.  Indeed,  as  a  rule,  the 
liiembers  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  took  only 
a  nominal  interest  in  the  colleges.  Under  thia 
system  with  all  its  abuse  of  privilege,  hun- 
dreds of  competent  and  skilled  physicians 
were  educated  and  the  esprit  de  corps  of  the 
profession  was  maintained  throughout.  The 
leading  medical  schools  voluntarily,  and  often 
at  personal  pecuniary  sacrifice,  made  extens- 
ive and  costly  improvements  in  their  facil- 
ities for  teaching.  Under  the  new  regime  the 
laboratory'  and  the  hospital  ward  have  re- 
placed the  amphitheatre  and  crowded  lecture 
room.  Demonstrative  teaching  and  clinical 
training  by  nrofessional  teachers  have  taken 
the  place  of  the  teachers  who  were  both  teach- 
ers and  practitioners.  The  prolonged  course 
of  pupilage  and  the  preliminary  education 
necessary  for  scientific  study  are  making  a 
new  generation  of  doctors,  wherein  scholar- 
shij)  and  scientific  attainments  are  the  rule 
instead  of  the  exception. 

The  medical  schools  are  now  integral  jjarts 
of  universities,  and  conform  to  the  university 
system  of  teaching.  Laboratories  and  hos- 
pitals afford  the  student  unlimited  facilities 
for  study  and  training.  A  college  education 
with  special  instruction  in  biology,  chemistry 
and  the  Latin  language  are  requisite  condi- , 
tions  for  admission  to  the  study  of  medicine, 
and  the  college  diploma  is  no  longer  a  license 
for  practice. 

The  old  system  had  its  day,  and  the  man 
who  instructed  with  lecture  and  quiz  prepar- 
ed the  way  for  the  greater  achievements  of 
the  present  age.  The  science  of  medicine  ha.s 
made  wonderful  strides  in  these  latter  years, 
but  there  were  great  men  and  master  minds 
in  the  olden  time. 

Ijewis  S.  McMurtry 


now  LOUISVILLE    SUCCEEDED   LEX- 
INGTON AS  A  CENTER  OF  MED- 
ICAL EDUCATION.* 

ByLuNSFORD  p.  Yandell,  Sr.,  M.D. 

Our  country  was  slow  to  embark  in  the 
medical  instruction  of  her  own  sons.  A  cen> 
tury  and  a  half  after  the  colonies  were  set- 
ll(?.d  the  medical  students  of  America  were 
still  obliged  to  repair  to  the  colleges  of  Eu- 
rope for  the  completion  of  their  studies.  It 
was  not  until  the  University  of  Edinburgh 
had  been  attracting  scores  of  young  American 
physicians  across  the  sea  for  forty  years,  that 
any  serious  effort  was  made  to  establish  a  med- 
ical school  on  our  continent.  This  honor  be- 
longs to  Dr.  John  Morgan,  who,  by  an  address 
remarkable  for  its  earnest  and  sound  argu- 
ment, prevailed  upon  the  trustees  of  the  col- 
lege of  Philadelphia  to  fovuid  the  institution 
now  represented  by  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Penjisylvania.  This  first 
American  school  of  medicine  was  organized 
in  1765,  while  Dr.  Franklin  presided  over  the 
C'Ollege.  Three  years  afterwards  a  similar 
institution  was  founded  in  New  York,  but  fail- 
ed to  command  the  success  which  has  attend- 
ed the  Philadelphia  school.  A  medical  facul- 
ty was  appointed  in  1782  to  give  lectures  on 
the  different  branches  of  medicine  in  Har- 
vard University;  and  in  1804  Dr.  John  B. 
Davidge  laid  the  foundation  of  the  medical 
school  at  Baltimore.  He  had  returned  a  few 
years  previously  from  the  University  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  he  formed  the  resolution,  in 
common  with  his  fellow-students.  Dr.  Hosack, 
and  Dr.  Samuel  Brown,  of  establishing  a  med- 
ical school  in  his  native  country.  I  have 
heard  him  relate,  that  the  project  appeared  to 
the  student  of  the  old  country  extremely  ab- 
surd, and  they  made  great  sport  of  the  embiyo 
professors  of  America.  The  opening  of  his 
enterprise  was  anything  but  auspicious;  his 
first  class  niimbered  only  six,  and  his  second 
had  but  one  addition  to  it.  The  rise  of  the 
other  early  American  schools,  though  not 
quite  so  gradual  as  that  of  my  old  preceptor 
and  friend,  was  by  no  means  rapid  when  com- 
pared with  those  of  our  day.  It  remained  for 
the  West  fully  to  develop  the  activity  of  such 
institutions. 

The  tide  of  immigTation  had  been  pouring 
into  the  Valley  of  the  Misissippi  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  and  the  then  Western 
states  were  still  without  a  medical  school. 
Such  students  as  could  afford  the  necessary 
means  resorted  to  the  Atlantic  colleges;  those 
who  were  unable  to  incur  the  expense  entered 

*Kxtracts  from  the  Introductory  Lecture  of.  Dr.  Yandell, 
Delivered  November  1, 1852. 


00 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


upon  the  practice  of  their  profession  without 
the  advantage  of  piiblic  instruction.  Ken- 
tuclfj',  the  pioneer  of  the  new  states,  took  the 
leaci  in  medical  education.  With  whom  the 
thought  of  founding  a  medical  college  in  Lex- 
ington first  originated,*  it  is  perhajjs  impos- 
sible now  to  ascertain,  but  as  early  as  1S16 
some  steps  had  been  taken  in  that  direction. 


in  the  Faculty  of  the  Medical  Department  of 
Transylvania  ITniversity.  These  gentlemen 
d(!livei-ed  a  course  of  lectures  to  a  class  of 
twenty  students,  of  whom  Dr.  W.  L.  Sutton, 
the  First  President  of  the  Kentucky  Jledical 
Soeiet^^  is  one  of  the  surviving  members.  The 
result  of  this  enterprise  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  satisfactory;  troubles  originated  in 


DOCTOR  LUNSFORD  P.  YANDELL,  Sr. 

1805--1878 

A  teacher  and  writer  of  great  industry  and  ability,  and  President  of 
the  State  Medical  Society  at  the  time  of  his  death. 


In  that  year  lectures  were  delivered  by  Dr. 
Wm.  H.  Richardson  while  yet  an  under-grad- 
uate  in  medicine.  In  1S17  he  was  associated 
with  Dr.  Benjamin  W.  Dudley,  Dr.  Daniel 
I)rake,  Dr.  James  Blythe,  and  James  Overton, 

*It  would  appear  tliat  Dr.  Yandell  was  not  advised  of  tlie 
fact  that  "Early  in  1809  at  the  first  meeting:  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  new  Transylvania  University,  they  instituted  'The 
Medical  Department'  of  Collesre  of  Transylvania,  which 
subse<iuently  became  so  prosperous  and  celebrated,  by  the 
appointment  of  Doctor  Samuel  Brown  as  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry. Anatomy  and  Surgery,  and  IJoctor  Frederick  Ridsely. 
as  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  Midwifery  and  Practice  of 
Ph.vsic";  that  both  these  gentlemen ' accepted  the  duties, 
lectures  and  instructions  being  actually  given  by  them  and 
their  successors  in  the  intervening  yeai's  up  to  1813,  when  the 
school  was  reorganized  and  put  on  a  more  permanent  basis. 


the  Faculty,  and  the  school  was  suspended  at- 
'ter  a  single  session. 

In  the  summer  of  .1 819  the  Faculty  was  re- 
organized. Dr.  Chas.  Caldwell  and  Dr.  Samuel 
Brown  taking  the  place  of  Dr.  Drake  and  Dr. 
Overton,  the  first  of  whom  had  in  the  mean- 
time returned  to  Cincinnati;  and  the  latter 
had  removed  to  Nashville.  Dr.  Caldwell 
brought  with  him  from  Philadelphia  a  high 
reputation  both  as  a  writer  and  a  lecturer.  Dr. 
Brown  was  a  man  of  sho'ny  parts,  of  varied 
learning,  of  fine  person,  and  elegant  address. 
Dr.  Dudley  had  already  given  promise  of  that 
rare  surgical  skill  which  has  since  rendered 
him  so    distinguished.     Dr.    Richardson  had 


MEDICAL    PIONEEl;^     OF    KENTUCKY, 


91 


the  reputation  of  being  a  successful  practi- 
tioner of  obstetrics,  and  was  recommended  by 
cordial  and  popular  manners.  Dr.  Blythe, 
the  professor  of  Chemistry,  was  a  learned 
Presbyterian  clergyman,  and  his  connection 
mth  the  school  was  calculated  to  conciliate 
that  large  and  influential  body  of  Christians. 

Under  the  direction  of  a  Faculty  thus  con- 
stituted it  became  at  once  manifest  that  the 
Medical  Department  of  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity was  soon  to    exhibit    an    example  ol 


new  enterprise  and  had  in  it  all  the  excite- 
ment of  novelty  and  hope.  Its  Faculty  was 
ardent,  zealous  and  gifted.  It  was  situated  in 
the  midst  of  a  wide  country  rapidly  increas- 
ing in  population.  The  first  session  of  the 
school  opened  with  a  class  of  37  pupils;  its 
second  class  numbered  93  •  its  third  138 ;  its 
fourth,  171.  Before  the  commencement  of  the 
fifth  session.  Dr.  Drake,  who  had  made  an 
abortive  effort  to  found  a  similar  institution 
iu  Cincinnati,  was  united  to  the  Faculty,  as 


DOCTOR  DANIEL  DRAKE 

1785—1852 

Easily  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  versatile  medical  men  of  his 
affe.  A  great  teacher  and  writer,  and  author  of  "A  Systematic 
Treatise  on  the  Principal  Diseases  of  the  Interior  Valley  of  North 
and  other  works  of  great  value. 


prosperity  at  that  time  uuparallel'ed  in  the- 
history  of  medical  schools.  Its  location  had 
great  advantages  at  the  time.  Lexington, 
from  its  literary  eminence,  had  acquired  the 
title  of  "The  Athens  of  the  "West."  It  was 
the  commercial  as  well  as  the  literary  em- 
I)orium  of  the  Western  States.  The  late  Dr. 
Horace  HoUey,  at  that  time  President  of  the 
I'niversity,  with  i^owers  of  display  seldoiri 
equalled,  conferred  upon  the  institution  a  re- 
markable lustre.     The  medical  school  was  a 


Professor  of  Materia  Medica.  The  number  of 
the  succeeding  class  was  200 ;  and  that  of  the 
sixth,  234.  At  the  end  of  this  session,  Dr. 
Brown  resigned  the  chair  of  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine,  to  which  Dr.  Drake  was 
transferred,  and  Dr.  Chas.  W.  Short  was  elect- 
ed Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Medical 
Bolany.  The  ensuing  class,  in  the  autumn  ot 
1825,  numbered  282  students.  The  one  which 
followed  was  not  so  large,  and  the  next  de- 
clined to  190.    At  the  termination  of  this  ses- 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


sion,  Dr.  Drake  resigned  liis  professorship, 
in  Mie  summer  of  J  827,  Dr.  John  Esten 
Cooke,  who  had  attracted  the  attention  of  tlie 
l)rofession  by  .some  ahle  papers  in  the  Medical 
Ji'erorder,  and  by  his  "Pathology  and  Thera- 
peutics," the  first  volume  of  which  had  just 
beea  published,  was  invited  from  Winchester, 
Virginia,  to  the  cliair  of  Theory  and  Practice. 
Tlio  number  of  students  the  fol]o^\'ing  winter 
was  only  150;  but  the  next  session  exhibited 
an  increase,  and  for  several  years  the  classes 
continued  steadilj^  to  grow.    In  the  spring  of 


the  minds  of  the  Faculty,  that  the  school  had 
filled  up  the  measure  of  its  usefulness.  Lex- 
ington, the  most  eligible  site  for  a  medical 
school  when  this  was  organized,  was  now  ad- 
mitted to  be  deficient  in  some  of  the  elements 
essential  to  the  establishment  of  a  great  and 
enduring  institution.  With  the  advancement 
of  inedical  science  in  our  eoimtry  it  had  ceased 
to  be  able  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  pro- 
fession. It  had  no  hospital,  and  furnished 
very  precarious  and  inadequate  means  for 
anatomical  stud.v.    In  the  winter  of  1835-36  it 


DOCTOR  JOHN  ESTEN  COOKE 

1783--I853 


1831,  Dr.  Blythe  resigned  the  chair  of  Chem- 
istrv,  and  the  writer  of  this  narrative  was  ap- 
]iointed  his  successor,  with  the  late  Mr.  H. 
llidbert  Eaton  as  assistant.  Unfortunately 
for  science,  this  ijromising  young  maji  was  cut 
off  after  participating  in  a  single  course  of 
lectures,  dying  of  pulmonai*y  consumption  in 
the  23rd  year  of  his  age. 

The  institution  in  1835  was  again  in  a  high- 
ly flourishing  condition.  Its  classes  had  risen 
aliove  260.  To  the  ej^e  of  the  common  observer 
all  about  it  gave  promise  of  stability;  but  ap- 
pearances were  deceptive,  and  in  the  midst  of 
such  success  the  conviction  was  forced  upon 


came  to  be  felt  and  acknowledged  by  the  Fac- 
ulty that  tile  department,  if  it  was  to  be  main- 
tained  in  the  position  of  ascendency  which  it 
had  enjoyed  from  the  beginning,  must  be 
ti-ansferred  to  a  situation  possessing  more  ad- 
vantages  than  were  then  afforded  by  that 
beautiful  cifry.  Louisville  suggested  itself  to 
the  mind  of  every  member  as  a  point  combin- 
ing all  the  facilities  for  a  medical  school,  and 
accordingly  in  the  spring  of  1836  it  was  re- 
solved, with  entire  unanimity,  to  attempt  to 
remove  it  to  this  place. 

A\^ien  the  period  for  carrying  out  this  reso- 
lution  arrived,   it  was   ascertained  that  the 


MEDICAL    PIONEEliS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


93 


measure  was  impracticable ;  the  professors 
might  remove  to  Louisville,  but  the  citizens 
of  Lexington  and  the  Trustees  of  the  Univers- 
ity would  not  entertain  the  proposition  to 
transfer  the  Medical  Department.  The  agi- 
tation of  the  question  led  to  dissensions  among 
the  professors,  and  finally  to  a  dissolution  of 
the  Faeultj' ;  three  of  the  members,  Dr.  Dud- 
ley, Dr.  Richardson,  and  Dr.  Short  remaining 
in  Lexington,  Dr.  Caldwell,  Dr.  Cooke  and 
myself  accepting  places  in  the  Louisville 
Medical  Institute. 
The  Medical  Institute     of     Louisville  was 


ed  by  these  resolutions  of  the  citizens  to 
grant  the  square  bounded  by  Eighth  and 
ISinth,  and  Chestnut  and  ]\Tagazine  Streets,  to 
the  Managers  of  the  Medical  Institute;  and 
they  further  resolved  to  erect  necessary  build- 
ings for  a  Medical  school  at  a  cost  not  to  ex- 
ceed $30,000,  and  to  advance  in  cash  for  the 
purchase  of  a  library,  anatomical  museum, 
ajid  the  reciuisite  apparatus,  an  additional 
sum  of  $20,000.  On  the  11th  of  April  the 
Board  met,  and  accepted  the  donation  of  the 
city.  During  the  summer  six  professorships 
were  filled.  Dr.  Miller,  who  resigned  his  chair 


DOCTOR  CHARLES  CALDWELL 

1772—1853 


chartered  by  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  on 
the  2nd  of  February,  1833,  and  various  at- 
tempts -were  made  without  success  to  put  it  in 
operation;  at  length  the  citizens  becoming  in- 
terested in  the  project,  a  town  meeting  was 
held,  at  which  on  the  30th  of  March,  1837,  it 
was  resolved  that  there  ought  to  be  a  college 
in  the  city  of  Louisville,  with  Medical  and 
Law  Departments,  and  that  it  was  exiaedient 
that  the  Mayor  and  Council  should  proceed  at 
once  to  endow  the  first  of  these. 
The  Mayor  and  the  Council  were  prompt- 


in  order  that  the  Board  might  be  entirely  un- 
embarrassed in  making  their  new  arr'ange- 
ULcnts,  being  appointed  to  the  chair  of  Obstet- 
rics, Dr.  Cobb  to  that  of  Anatomy,  and  Dr. 
Joshua  B.  Flint  to  that  of  Surgery.  To  Dr. 
Caldwell;  Dr.  Cooke  and  myself  were  assign- 
ed the  chairs  which  we  had  respectively  held 
in  Transylvania  University,  namely.  Insti- 
tutes of  Medicine,  Theory  and  Practice,  and 
Chemistry.  Subsequently  I  was  transferred 
to  the  chair  of  Materia  Mediea,  and  for  one 


'M 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOUHNAL. 


season  delivered  lectures  on  that  branch  as 
well  as  chemistry. 

The  first  course  of  lectures  in  the  Medical 
Institute  was  delivered  in  the  upper  rooms  of 
the  City  Work-House,  which  stood  upon  the 
site  of  our  present  edifice,  to  a  class  of  80  stu- 
dents. Tlie  appearance  and  appointments  of 
the  old  structure  in  which  we  were  to  com- 
mence  our  labors  were  unattractive,  strait- 
ened, and  comfortless  enough ;  and  now  as  1 
look  back  uj)on  the  new  enterprise  I  can  see 


luiti  and  accept  the  chair  of  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine  there.  One-half  of  the  Fac- 
ulty which  had  reared  the  school  and  con- 
ferred upon  it  a  full  share  of  its  reputation, 
SI  ill  remained  identified  with  it.  ft  had  a 
widely  extended,  influential,  and  devoted 
corps  of  alumni  upon  which  it  could  rely^  and 
it  had  a  name  among  the  medical  institutions 
of  the  country  which  the  success  of  nineteen 
winters  had  been  constantly  strengthening 
and  extending. 


PROFESSOR  SAMUEL  D.  GROSS 

1805--1884 

From  a  photoerraph  made  in  1860 

One  of  the  famous  surefeons  of  the  TA^orld,  and  a  great  teacher 
and  author.  One  of  the  organizers  and  early  Presidents  of  the  State 
Medical  Society  of  Kentucky,  and  the  American  Medical  Association. 


that  there  were  discouragements  attending  it 
^vhich  might  justify  the  misgivings'  of  many 
of  its  friends.  The  Lexington  school  was 
again  fully  organized.  The  citizens  were 
roiised  by  the  attempt  to  transfer  to  a  rival 
city  an  institution  which  had  been  so  long  n 
cherished  object  of  their  pride,  and  were  re- 
solved to  sustain  it.  Dr.  Eberle,  at  that  day  one 
of  the  most  popular  authors  and  teachei's  in 
the  country,  had  been  induced  to  leave  Cincin- 


Such  was  the  School  in  the  face  of  which 
the  Medical  Institute  of  Louisville  was  to  rise, 
nor  was  Transylvania  the  only  powerful  rival 
in  its  neighborhood.  The  Ohio  Medical  Col- 
lege, though  crippled  by  the  \\'ithdrawal  of  Dr. 
Eberle  and  Dr.  Cobli,  was  again  organized, 
and  with  many  other  advantages  could  boast 
of  a  reputation  as  ancient  as  that  of  the  sis- 
ter institution  at  Lexington.  The  Cincinnati 
Medical  College  was  also  contending  vigorous- 


MEDICAL     PIONEEfiti     OF    KENTUCKY, 


95 


ly  for  the  first  rank  among  Western  Medical 
Schools,  ai:d  when  I  tell  you  that  Dr.  Drake, 
Dr.  Parker,  of  New  York,  Dr.  McDowell,  of 
St.  Louis,  the  late  Dr.  Harrison,  of  Cincinnati, 
and  Dr.  James  B.  Rogers,  of  Philadelphia,  Dr. 
Kives,  now  of  the  Ohio  Medical  College,  and 
my  colleague,  Dr.  Gross,  composed  its  Facul- 
ty, you  can  judge  with  what  chances  there 
were  of  success.  Not  a  few  of  our  friends 
^vere  dependent.  Tt  was  doubted  whether 
we  should  have  any  students  at  the  time  we 
pi'oposed  to  commence  our  first  course,  and 
some  of  us  were  kindly  advised  to  give  up  the 
project  as  hopeless. 

But  not  so  thought  the  Faculty.  To  their 
minds  it  was  evident  that  the  enterprise  must 
pi'osper.  Tt  could  not  be  doubted  that  Louis- 
ville, from  its  geographical  position  and 
many  other  natural  advantages,  must  become 
the  seat  of  a  great  medical  school,  and  the 
citizens  had  wisely  decreed  the  means  neces- 
sary to  its  establishment. 

Our  first  class,  T  have  mentioned,  numbered 
80  students,  of  whom  27  received  -the  degree 
of  j\T.  D.  in  the  spring.  The  class  at  Lexing- 
ton nuinbered  230,  which  was  only  about 
tvvelve  short  of  the  preceding  class. 

Tt  was  a  notable  effort  to  found  the  first 
medical  school  in  the  West.  Tt  placed  a  lib- 
eral medical  education  within  the  reach  of 
hundreds  of  meritorious  young  men  who  must 
otlierwise  have  grown  old  in  their  profession 
without  its  advantages.  The  Transylvania 
medical  school  was  a  source  of  substantia! 
blessings  to  the  country.  They  who  founded 
it  and  by  their  la.bors  gave  to  it  its  brilliant 
reputation,  were  pioneers  in  medical  educa- 
tion, benefactors  of  their  profession  and  their 
race,  and  as  such  their  names  will  live  in  the 
memories  of  men. 

Those  who  came  to  establish  the  medical 
school  at  Louisville  were  also  pioneers.  They 
were  still  bearing  forward  the  light  of  out- 
beneficent  science  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  "Star  of  Empire"  has  so  long  held  its 
■way.  When  the  steeple  wliich  surmounts  tliis 
edifice  was  erected,  it  was  the  last  reared  in 
honor  of  medicine  upon  which  the  sun  shone 
in  his  journey  down  the  evening  sky,  the  first 
to  greet  the  traveler  coming  from  the  "far 
west."  Now  it  is  one  of  the  old  schools;  so 
rapidly  do  such  institutions  grow  up  in  our 
progressive  country. 

On  the  22nd  of  February,  1838,  the  cor- 
ner stone  of  this  building  was  laid  mth  Ma- 
sonic honors,  in  the  presence  of  a  great  con- 
course of  citizens,  and  the  second  course  of 
lectures  was  delivered  in  these  rooms.  At  the 
close  of  the  first  session,  it  apDoaring  desir- 
able to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the  Faculty  by  the 
introduction  of  Dr.  Short,  who  had  again, 
after  the  dissolution  of  our  faculty,  accepted 
a  chair  in  the  Lexington  school,  I  resigned  the 
professorship  of  Materia  Medica  and  was  ap- 


pointed by  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  the  chair 
of  Chemistry.  The  election  of  Dr.  Short  com- 
Ijleted  the  organization  of  the  Institute.  A 
member  of  the  Faculty  was  commissioned  by 
the  Trustees  to  visit  Europe  for  the  purpose 
of  increasing  the  library,  chemical  apparatus, 
anatomical  models  and  preparations,  and 
other  materials  of  illustration  for  the  school. 
The  second  session  opened  under  favorable 
circumstances.  The  new  and  splendid  edifice 
presented  a  strong  contrast  to  the  old  rooms 
in  which  the  incipient  exercises  of  the  institu- 
tion were  condiicted ;  and  the  fine  library  and 
suites  of  apparatus  arrived  from  Europe  in 
good  season  to  render  the  preparation  for 
teaching  the  several  branches  complete.  The 
second  class  numbered  120. 

In  the  summer  of  1839,  the  Cincinnati  Med- 
ical College  suspended  operations,  and  Dr. 
Drake,  its  founder,  was  elected  Professor  of 
Clinical  JTodieine  and  Pathological  Anatomy 
in  the  .Medical  Institute,  a  chair  created  by 
1he  Board  of  Trustees,  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  Faculty,  for  the  p\irpose  of  securing 
the  services  of  that  experienced  and  able 
teacher.  Tt  is  worthy  of  remark  that  although 
the  effect  of  this  innovation  was  to  raise  the 
tuition  fees  of  the  Institute  above  those  of  all 
the  neighboring  schools,  it  caused  no  abate- 
ment, but  rather  an  increase  in  the  ratio  ol 
its  growth.  The  number  of  its  third  class  was 
20r>.  At  the  end  of  this  session  Dr.  Joshua 
15.  Flint  retired  from  the  school,  and  was 
succeeded  in  the  chair  of  Surgery  bv  its  pres- 
ent incumbent.  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Gross, 

The  class  had  now  grown  to  be  so  large  that 
the  usual  mode  of  giving  clinical  instruction, 
the  students  following  the  professors  through 
the  wards  of  the  hospital,  and  catching,  as 
tliey  could,  the  remarks  made  at  the  bedsides 
of  the  patients,  was  found  to  be  ineffectual ; 
and  in  order  that  this  most  important  branch 
of  medical  teaching  might  be  rendered  effici- 
ent and  useful,  the  Faculty  determined,  with 
the  consent  of  the  City  Council,  to  ered  a  clin- 
ical theatre  adjoining  the  Marine  Hospital. 
The  follonving  course  of  lectures  was  delivered 
to  209  students,  and  no  portion  of  it  was  more 
satisfactory  than  that  which  was  given  in  the 
clinical  amphitheatre.  The  effect  of  the  im- 
in-ovement  was  felt  to  be  most  salutary. 
The  succeeding  class  numbered  268. 

In  eonseauence  of  the  embarrassed  state  of 
the  coimtry,  the  number  of  students  declined 
the  ensuing  session,  and  was  only  190 ;  but  the 
institution  soon  recovered  from  the  temporary 
depression  and  the  following  years  exhibited 
a  rapid  increase.  Its  sixth  class  reached  246; 
its  seventh  290 ;  and  its  eighth,  347.  Tt  was 
now  confessedly  ahead  of  all  the  neighboring 
schools,  and  probably  behind  none  in  the  coun- 
try except  the  two  principal  schools  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

During  the  winter  of  1843-44,  Dr.  Cooke, 


9G 


KENTUCKT    MEDICAL    JOVUNAL. 


wlio  had  retired  to  a  fMrm  in  lhe  neighborhood 
of  Louisville,  gave  notice  to  the  Board  of  Man- 
agers that  he  would  vacate  his  chair  in  the 
spring,  a  step  which  his  declining  liealtli 
shortly  afterwards  would  have  rendered  nec- 
essary. Pie  was  the  first  of  those  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  organization  of  the  school  to 
I'esign  his  seat  in  it.  The  peculiar  medical 
theories  and  practice  of  this  original  man  have 
been  extensively  commented  upon,  and  are 
known  to  every  one  who  has  read  much  of 
American  medicine.  "Whatever  may  be  the 
judgment  of  medical  men  concerning  these, 


sion,  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  granted  a 
cliarter  for  the  Univei'sity  of  Louisville,  of 
wliicb  the  Medical  Institute  was  constituted 
the  Medical  Department.  By  the  provisions  of 
the  charter,  the  Board  of  Trustees  were  to  be 
elected  by  the  City  Council,  and  to  hold  office 
for  a  limited  period,  instead  of  filling  their 
own  vacancies,  and  continuing  in  office  for 
life,  as  under  the  original  charter.  The  first 
class  that  assembled  in  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  Universit}'  of  Louisville  number- 
ed 353  students,  and  the  second  rose  to  406. 
This  was  in  184.7,  ten    years    from  the  com- 


DOCTOR  AUSTIN  FLINT,  Sr. 
1812-1886 


there  can  be  among  those  who  have  known 
him  intimately  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  pur- 
ity and  excellence  of  his  character.  However 
mistaken  he  may  have  been  in  any  of  his 
views,  no  one  ever  doubted  his  sincerit.y.  No 
one  ever  associated  long  with  him  without  the 
conviction  that  he  was  a  just,  upright,  and 
tlioroughly  honest  man.  The  feeble  state  of 
his  health  has  compelled  him  entirely  to  aban. 
don  his  profession,  and  for  several  years  past 
he  has  lived  on  liis  farm,  in  Trimble  county, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio. 

In  February,  1845,  during  its  eighth  ses- 


mencement  of  the  enterprise,  and  I  suppose 
I  am  safe  in  saying,  that  no  medical  school 
ever  attracted  so  many  students  in  so  short 
a  time.  The  number,  the  ensuing  session,  was 
3;i3. 

Extensive  changes  in  the  Faculty  took 
I)]ace  after  the  close  of  this  session.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1S49,  Dr.  Drake  signified  to  the  Board 
of  Trustees  that  he  would  resign  his  profes- 
sorship at  the  end  of  the  term.  Later  in  the 
season  the  chair  held  by  Dr.  Caldwell  was  va- 
cated;  and  in  June,  Dr.  Shoi't  carried  into 
effect  a  wish  which  he  had  long  indulged,  of 


MEDICAL    PWNEELS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


97 


retiring  from  the  turmoil  which  seems  to  bfe 
inseparable  from  medical  schools.  These  pro- 
fessors were  all  meji  experienced,  learned,  and 
widely  known.  Dr.  Caldwell  was  for  many 
years  one  of  the  chief  ornaments  of  Transyl- 
vfinia  University,  and  by  his  energy  and  in- 
dustry, his  great  learning,  and  his  eloquence, 
had  contributed  a  full  share  to  its  rapid  rise 
and  wide  x^opularity.  lie  was  far  more  active- 
ly concerned  than  any  of  his  colleagues  in  pro- 
curing from  the  city  of  Louisville  the  noble 


would  have  taken  a  high  rank  in  any  medical 
school.  Dr.  Short  ditfered  in  the  character  of 
his  mind  frojn  both  of  his  distinguished  col- 
leagues, but  possessed  qualities  which  render- 
ed him  a  most  valuable  officer.  His  high  sci- 
entific attainments,  the  soundness  of  his  judg- 
ment, his  dignity  and  urbanity  of  manners, 
his  amiable  temper,  and  blameless  life,  added 
character  and  weight  to  the  institution. 

These  eminent  teachers  were  succeeded  by 
Dr.  Blisha  Bartlett,  Dr.  Lewis  Rogers,  and  Dr. 


DOCTOR  SAMUEL  M.  BEMISS. 

1821-1884 

A  teacher  in  the   University  of  Louisville  in   early  life,  and 

second  State  Registrar  of  Vital  Statistics  in  Kentucky.   Was  a  leader 

in  the  profession  of  New  Orleans,  both  as  a  teacher  and  practitioner, 

and  a  member  of  the  National  Board  of  Health  after  leaving  Louisville. 


endowment  of  the  Medical  Institute,  aucl  his 
reputation  for  learning  and  originality  had 
been  of  the  greatest  sei-vice  to  the  institution 
in  its  earlier  years.  Dr.  Drake  was  at  the 
height  of  his  popularity,  and  in  the  full  ma- 
,turity  of  his  intellect.  As  a  lecturer  or  writer, 
he  had  made  himself  known  to  every  educated 
American  physician.  With  an  unfailing  zeal 
in  his  profession,  untiring  industry,  a  mind 
singularly  active,  vigorous,  and  comprehens- 
ive, and  an  elegance  which  never  failed  to  ex- 
cite and  gratify  the  interest  of  his  pupils,  he 


Benjamin  Silliman,  Jr.,  the  latter  in  the 
chair  of  Chemistry,  the  Board  of  Trustees 
having  done  me  the  honor  to  assign  to  me  the 
department  of  Physiology  and  Pathological 
x\natomy.  The  influence  of  so  extensive  a 
revolution  was  feared  by  some,  but  the  sequel 
proved  that  the  institution  had  become  suf- 
ficiently established  in  the  confidence  of  the 
public  to  bear  the  change  without  loss.  The 
number  of  the  succeeding  class  was  376,  a 
gain  of  more  than  forty  upon  the  one  of  the 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


previous  year,  and  the  largest  tout  one  ever 
attracted  to  the  University. 

The  prospects  of  the  school  were  never 
brighter  than  tliey  appeared  to  be  at  the  close 
of  that  session.  There  was  not  a  speck  to  be 
(li'scried  npon  its  horizon  in  any  direction.  Its 
]'"aculty  was  united  and  harmonious;  its  pu- 
pils had  retired  to  their  homes  in  the  most  fa- 
vorable temper ;  it  had  been  now  for  several 


versity  of  NeM'  York.  Dr.  Drake  was  recalled 
by  the  Board  to  the  professorship  which  he 
had  formerly  held,  and  Dr.  Gross  was  succeed- 
ed by  Dr.  Paul  F.  Eve,  of  the  Georgia  Medical 
College,  at  A  ugusta.  The  number  of  students 
the  session  ensuing  was  2S2. 

At  the  close  of  his  first  eouree  of  lectures 
in  New  York,  Dr.  Gross  returned  to  Louisville, 
and  Dr.  Eve  resigned  the  chair  of  Surgery 


K 

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^^^^^^^^^v 

DOCTOR  TOBIAS  GIBSON  RICHARDSON. 

1827-1892 
Teacher,  Author,  Surg-eon.     One  of  the  Founders  of  the  Ken- 


tucky State  Medical  Society.  O 
Medical  Association.  The  late 
Orleans. 


e  time  President  of  the  American 
years    of    his    life  spent  in   New 


\-ears  far  in  advance  of  all  the  western 
schools;  all  the  omens  were  auspicious.  But 
b.''fore  the  opening  of  another  collegiate  year, 
ihc  Trustees  were  called  upon  to  till  two  va- 
cancies in  the  faculty.  Dr.  Bartlctt  and  Dr. 
Gross,  late  in  the  summer  of  1850,  resigned 
their  places,  and  accepted  chairs  in  the  Uni- 


in  his  favor.  Dr.  Gross  was  re-elected  in 
1S51,  and  Dr.  Eve,  who  had  generously  re- 
linquished a  place  to  which  he  felt  that  his 
friend  had  stronger  claims,  was  inv-ited  to  a 
chair  in  the  medical  school  about  to  be  organ- 
ized at  Nashville.  The  number  of  the  class, 
as  you  are  aware,  was  262. 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


HENRY  MILLER,  M.  D. 

By  H.  M.  GrOODM-AN,  M.  D.,  Louisville. 

Henry  Miller  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Ken- 
tuckj',  November  1,  1800.  His  father,  who 
was  one  of  the  first  three  settlers  of  Glasgow, 
was  a  native  of  Maryland.  After  having  re- 
reived  a  good  common  school  education,  at  the 
age  of  seventeeii;  he  entered  upon  the  studv 
of  medicine,  in  the  office  of  Drs.  Bainbridge 
and.  Gist,  in  his  native  town,  where  he  remain- 
ed two  years.  He  then  entered  the  Medical 
School   of   Transvlvania   Universitv,   in   Lex 


tule,  the  first  school  of  ^Medicine  founded  in 
that  city.  The  faculty  with  which  the  institu- 
tion started  was  one  of  distinction,  comprising 
Drs,  Charles  Caldwell.  John  Esten  Cooke, 
Lunsford  P.  Yandell,  M'ho  had  been  memihers 
of  the  Transylvania  Medical  School,  and  Drs. 
Cobb  and  Flint.  Tiie  list  -v^-as  completed  b> 
the  appointment  of  Dr.  Henry  Miller  to  the 
chair  of  Obstetrics.  The  school  was,  in  1846, 
merged  into  the  L^niversity  of  Louisville,  Dr, 
i'iller  retaining  his  professorship  until  1858. 
Having  served  continuously  for  twenty-three 
years  and  feeling  the  need  of  a  change,  he, 


DOCTOR  HENRY  MILLER 

1800--1874 


ington,  where  he  graduated  in  1821.  Such 
was  his  proficiency  that  he  was  at^  once  ap- 
pointed demonstrator  of  anatomy,  in  which 
position  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  high 
reputation  he  achieved  later.  Subsequently, 
he  attended  a  course  of  lectures  in  Phila- 
delphia and,  upon  his  return  to  Kentucky,  be- 
gan the  practice  of  medicine  in  Glasgow.  In 
1.S27.  he  moved  to  Harrodsburg,  Kentucky, 
and  practiced  his  profession  with  success  un- 
til 1835,  when  he  was  called  to  Louisville  to 
aid  in  the  organization  of  the  Medical  Insti- 


in  that  year,  resigned  his  chair  and  devoted 
himself  to  his  private  practice.  In  this,  his 
great  skill  and  thorough  knoM'ledge  of  his  pro- 
fession gave  him  a  large  patronage  and  he 
soon  became  a  favorite  family  physician.  In 
1367,  he  was  recalled  to  the  institution,  and 
was  for  two  years,  professor  of  medical  and 
surgical  diseases  of  women,  when  he  again  re- 
signed. Subsequently,  he  accepted  a  similar 
chair  in  the  Louisville  Medical  College,  hold- 
ing it  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
Februarv  18,  1874. 


100 


KENTVCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


Dr.  ^filler  was  an  extensivo  writer  upon 
medical  topics  and,  in  addition  to  many  mono- 
graphs on  various  subjects,  was  the  author  of 
two  standard  medical  works.  The  first,  en- 
titled, "Theoretical  and  Practical  Treatise  on 
Human  Parturition."  was  published  in  IS-lf). 
and  the  second.  "Principles  and  Practice  of 
Obstetrics,"  several  years  later.  The  latter 
liecame  the  to.xt  book  in  most  of  the  schools  of 
1he  day,  and  still  ranks  among  the  very  firet 
in  this  day  medical  literature,  as  a  standard 
authority,  especially  the  chapters  relating  to 
the  ^Meclianism  of  Labor,  which  have  been  Init 
slightly  changed  since  he  first  published  hi:? 
views.  He  enjoyed  to  an  luiusual  degree  the 
satisfaction  of  being  recognized  and  appreci- 
ated in  his  lifetime,  instead  of  looking  for- 
ward to  posthumous  fame.  P>y  both  the  medi- 
cal fraternity  and  the  lait\'.  he  was  esteemed, 
honored  and  beloved.  In  addition  to  his  mem- 
bership in  many  local  and  state  societies,  ht 
was  a  member  of  the  American  ^ledical  Asso- 
ciation, and  its  president  in  1859.  In  religious 
association,  he  was  a  Presbyterian.  His  style 
was  particularly  terse  and  lucid,  his  judff 
iiieiit  admirable,  his  success  eminent.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  sa^-  that  there  is  not  a  li^^ng 
I'Lipil,  of  the  thousands  who  listened  to  his  lec- 
tures on  uterine  hemorrhage,  who  cau  not 
vividly  recall  the  picture,  when  he  said  with 
characteristic  earnestness,  "the  Hand, — the 
IlaJid, — Gentlemen." 

His  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  June  24, 
1S24.  was  Miss  Clarrissa  TJobinson,  daughter 
of  "William  and  Clarrissa  Robinson  of  an  old 
Virginia  family.  Of  the  children  born  to  them 
six  attained  mati^rity.  Dr.  "Wm.  E.  ^filler. 
George  ^liller.  Dr.  Edward  Miller,  ]\Iar\ 
I\Iiller,  Henrietta  Miller,  and  Caroline  D. 
Sniler.  wife  of  Dr.  John  Goodman  of  Louis- 
ville. 

DR.  THEODORE  S.  BELL. 

By  Hexrv  a.  Cottell.  A.^L,  M.D.  Louisville. 

Theodore  Stout  Bell,  philanthropist,  phy- 
sician, teacher,  writer  and  philosopher  was 
born  in  Lexington,  Kentucky,  in  1807.  He 
was  of  humble  parentage  and,  losing  his 
father  in  childhood,  was  put  to  work  for  the 
support  of  his  widowed  mother.  He  began 
life  as  a  newsboy  and  later  learned  the  tailor- 
ing trade.  His  love  of  learning  soon  asserted 
itself,  and  in  spite  of  unfavorable  surround- 
ings he  made  r  ■al  advancement  in  the  aecpii- 
sition  of  knowledge.  The  words  of  Edward 
Holmes,  spoken  of  a  famous  okl-world  musical 
genius,  appropi'iately  apply  to  Bell:  "Such  a 
career  is  hardly  to  be  conceived  unsupported 
by  the  consciousness  of  a  great  destiny,  and 
its  secret  sustainings  from  within."  Indeed, 
the  only  evidence  of  vanity  be  ever  displayed 
was  in  the  exhibition  of  the  needle  with  which 


he  supported  himself  and  mother  while  he  wa.s 
acij  airing  the  rudiments  of  his  education. 

He  was  ably  assisted  in  his  studies  by  Mr. 
James  Logue,  a  learned  teacher  of  Lexington, 
who  ^nthout  pay  devoted  his  after  school 
hours  to  teaching  this  boy,  whose  talents  gave 
promise  of  a  brilliant  future.  Later  Bell 
studied  with  the  gi'cat  surgeon.  Dudley,  who 
found  ^or  him  a  way  to  enter  the  Transyl- 
\  Muia  Scliool  of  ^ledicine.  from  which  he  grad- 
uated in  the  year  1832.  and  soon  thereafter 
came  to  Louisville,  where  for  .52  years  he  lived 
and  labored  for  the  fame  of  medicine  and  the 
glory  of  liumanit\'.  Though  no  politician 
there  was  no  public  measure  for  good  that  did 
not  enlist  his  sympath^^  and  support.  Notably 
in  this  line  was  his  effort  to  bring  the  Transyl- 
vania L'niversity  to  Louisville.  This  failijig, 
he  was  largely  instrumental  in  the  creation  of 
the  Louisville  IMedica]  Institute,  which  called 
Caldwell,  Yand*^!!  and  Cooke  to  Louisville, 
and  out  of  which  grew  the  University  of 
Louisville.  He  Avrote  volumijiously  in  be- 
half of  the  development  of  his  City,  and  in 
favor  of  public  improvements. 

He  was  editorially  connected  with  the  Lou- 
isvile  Joiirnnl  and  was  the  family  physician  of 
its  great  editor.  Georffe  D.  Prentice.  In  1838. 
with  Dr.  L.  P.  Tandell.  Sr.,  he  founded  the 
Ltiidsinile  Ifrdiml  Jouriwl  and  later,  in  18-10- 
41.  with  Yandell  and  Dr.  Henry  IMiller,  estab- 
lished the  'Wrtiifirn  Journal  of  Mrdicine  and 
Siirgery. 

In  1857  he  was  made  professor  of  the  Sci- 
ence and  Art  of  ^ledieine  and  Public  Hygiene 
in  the  Fnivei'sity  of  Louisville,  a  position 
which  he  held  until  his  death.  In  1833  he 
married  Susanne  Hewitt,  a  sister  of  one  of 
Louisville's  most  famous  physicians  Dr.  R.  C. 
Hewitt.  To  this  union  was  born  one  child,  a 
son,  Carson  Hewitt  Bell.  In  1861  he  was 
made  president  of  the  Kentucln-  branch  of  the 
United  States  Sanitary  Commission.  The 
Kentucky  Institute  for  the  Blind,  for  whose 
promotion  he  labored  A\'ith  fond  solicitude, 
under  his  influence  and  wise  counsel  as 
ju-esident  of  its  board  of  visitors,  became 
one  of  the  foremost  institutions  of  its  kind  in 
America. 

Dr.  Bell  was  a  man  of  vast  and  varied 
learning,  and  a  writer  of  peculiar  grace  and 
force.  His  medical  writings  embrace  a  wide 
range  of  topics  but  his  favorite  themes  were 
hygiene  and  the  epidemic  diseases.  His  ca- 
reer antedated  the  bacteriological  era.  It  is 
true  that  the  Bacillus  .\utbraeis  had  been  seen 
in  the  blood  of  infected  animals  by  Pollender 
in  1849  and  by  Davaine  in  1850.  who.  in  1S63, 
demonstrated  its  causal  relation  to  Charbon. 
and  that  Pasteur  in  1879  established  its  ideu- 
lity  by  pui-e  culture,  and  that  Koch  had  dis- 
covered the  bacillus  luberculosis  in  1882,  but 
Bell  did  not  live  to  see  the  era  of  bacterio- 
logical medicine,  nor  did  he  ever  come  to  a 


MEDICAL    PIONEEJ^S     OF     KENTUCKY, 


101 


clear  understanding  of  the  causal  relation  of 
microbes  to  anthrax  and  tuberculosis ;  while 
he  scorned  the  doctrine  that  epidemic  diseases 
like  cholera,  yellow  fever,  the  bubonic  plague, 
and  malaria,  could  be  caused  by  anything  but 
his  three  etiological  factors,  heat,  moisture, 
and  vegetable  decomposition,  and  the  state- 
ment that  malaria  is  caused  by  a  Plasmodium 
carried  by  the  mosr(uito,  would  have  shocked 
his  nerves  beyond  recovery.  So  powerfully, 
and  so  plausibl}^  did  Dr.  Bell  urge  and  seem- 
ingly demonstrate  his  eri'oneous  theories  that 


liouisville.  His  memorable  "isothermic  line" 
so  far  as  it  defined  the  limits  of  the  great  epi- 
(lejnies,  like  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line  and  its 
supposed  limitation  of  the  area  of  slavery, 
went  into  the  limbo  of  the  unproved  and  im- 
practicable. Dr.  Bell  was  a  savage  contro- 
versialist and  in  his  many  word  battles  gener- 
siWy  downed  his  opponent  'with  the  scorn  of 
i.Tveelive  sarcasm,  yet  he  was  gentle  and  af- 
fectionate in  disposition,  loving  his  friends 
and  not  hating  his  enemies. 

He  was  an  almost  incessant  reader,  having 


DOCTOR  THEODORE  S.  BELL 

1807--1884 


they  attracted  the  attention  of  medical  mag- 
nates abroad  and  caused  some  of  his  students 
to  go  to  their  death  in  certain  yellow  fever, 
and  cholera,  epidemics  of  the  South,  vainly 
trusting  in  his  sovereign  prophylactics,  to- 
vdt :  high  sleeping  apartments,  and  quinine ; 
while  many  of  our  citizens  lost  their  lives  in 
tl'.e  epidemic  of  1878,  because  of  his  unequivo- 
cal contention  that  yellow  fever  could  not  de- 
velop a  single  indigenous  case,  in  a  place  of 
the  latitude,  and  daily  mean  temperature,  of 


his  tables  and  even  his  bed  piled  M'ith  books 
^-.'hich  he  read  and  studied  far  into  the  night, 
allowing  himself  only  four  hours  of  the  twen- 
ty-four for  sleep. 

Dr.  Bell  was,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word, 
a  Christian  man.  No  life  more  fully  than  his 
illustrated  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
sold  all  that  he  had  and  gave  to  the  poor,  and 
literally  took  no  thought  for  the  morrow, 
knowing  that  He  who  marks  the  fall  of  the 
sparrow  and  heeds  the  young  raven's  cry  for 


J  02 


KEMrCKY     MKOICAL     JOVRXAL. 


food,  would  keep  his  i/ovenant  witli  liis  aged, 
faithful  servant. 

He  died  alone  and  unattended,  but  this  was 
as  he  wished  to  die.  At  least  it  was  his  oft  ex- 
pressed desire  that  he  might  fall  with  the  har- 
ness on.  On  the  day  before  his  death  he  was. 
though  in  vej-y  feeble  health,  attending  to  his 
practice,  and  on  the  morning  when  his  dea^^ 
body  was  found,  it  was  evident  from  the  con 
diticn  of  the  room  that  he  had  passed  mue^i 
of  the  night  at  his  desk  with  his  books,  as  was 
his  wont.  This  seeming  austerity  of  manner 
argues  none  in  heart.  No  man  had  more 
friends  than  Dr.  Bell;  no  man  loved  his 
friends  better  than  he.  or  was  better  loved  in 
return  by  his  friends.  His  death,  although 
his  span  of  life  had  measured  almost  the  fuH 
limit  of  the  Psalmist,  carried  sorrow  to  vsry 
many  hearts,  and  seem  to  awaken  in  the 
whole  community  the  sense  of  an  irreparable 
loss.  Th.ousands  thronged  to  ^dew  his  body  as 
it  lay  in  state,  and  his  obsequies  were  those  of 
a  patriarch. 

It  is  fitting  that  we  close  with  the  eloquent 
tribute  wi-itten  by  Dr.  E.  S.  Gaillard.  who, 
during  his  sojourn  in  Louisville,  was  editor  of 
the  Eichmonrl  and  Louisville  Medical  Journal. 
and  a  professor  in  a  rival  school.  He  had  mort 
than  one  tilt  with  Bell,  who  had  scorned  him 
most  unmercifully.  Dr.  Gaillard 's  feet  were 
on  the  brink  of  the  dark  river  when  he  wrote 
this  noble,  just  and  forgiving  tribute:  De 
mortnis  nil  7iisi  bonum: 

"He  deserved  well  of  his  generation,  and 
whatever  may  be  the  encomiums  it  sha^l  I'en- 
der,  the  just  will  say  that  he  was  worthy  of 
(hem  all.  Even  those  who  were  not  permitted 
tf.  be  the  intimates  of  Dr.  Bell  must  feel  sad 
over  the  end  of  such  a  life;  over  the  lonelv 
termination  of  a  life  so  strong,  so  useful,  so 
worthy,  so  admirable;  this  sad,  almost  mys- 
terious passing  away  of  a  rugged,  lonely., 
strong  and  genuine  man.  How  like  his  last 
days  to  those  of  Thomas  Carlyle:  secluded, 
sad,  yet  laborious,  independent,  \iseful.  The 
last  day,  the  last  hours,  spent  in  work:  and 
when  the  golden  bowl  was  broken-  it  was,  as 
evei",  beside  the  fountain  where  it  had  so  often 
been  fillod  to  ovei-flowiny.  Where  else  should 
the  inental  laborer  wish  to  die.  if  not  aniii': 
the  silent  companions  of  his  life-work?  A 
lonely,  solitary  death :  Init  an  eloquent  one, 
for  it  declares  the  choice  and  the  character 
of  .''  well-spent  life!" 


D.WH)  W.  YAXDELL.  .AI.  I)..  L.L.  D. 

A  Loving  Tribute  by  His  Daughter, 
IMrs.  .\1.\ri.v  Y.\ndell  Roberts. 

David  Wondel  Yandell  wa.s  born  on  the  4th 
day  of  September,  1826,  at  Craggy  Bluff,  his 
father's  country  home,  si.x  miles  from  ^Nlur- 
fi'eesboro,  Tennessee,  a  spot  whereon  was 
fought  one  of  the  bloodiest  battles  of  the  Civil 
^\^!r. 

The  aucesto]'s  of  the  Yandell 's  came  froni 
Eiigland  and  .settled  in  South  Carolina 
Whether  they  were  of  Captain  Christopher 
Newport's  importation  or  not.  we  do  not 
know ;  but  that  they  were  chivalry  of  the  chiv- 
;: Irons  is  weH  attested  In-  the  fine  intellect, 
iiiauly  beauty,  personal  courage,  and  geutle- 
niuiily  bearing  of  alJ  who  have  held  tliis  hon- 
o)-ed  name.  For  two  generations,  in  this 
country,  his  family  had  been  distinguished  in 
medicine.  His  grandfather.  Dr.  AVilson  Y^an- 
dell.  was  one  of  the  most  noted  physicians  of 
liis  locality.  His  father  was  the  eminent  Dr. 
LuTisford  Pitts  Yandell.  of  blessed  memory,  a 
pioneer  of  medical  education  in  the  West,  a 
professor  in  Old  Transylvania  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  ^fedical  Department  of 
Vhe  T'niTcrsity  of  Louisville.  His  mother 
^■'a.'-'  Susan  Jiiliet  Wendel.  whose  father 
David  Wendel.  was  a  substantial  ^ler- 
chant  of  Murfrecsboro,  a  man  of  high  stand- 
i))g  and  probity.  In  her  were  combined 
all  nature's  choicest  gifts.  With  uncommon 
heauts'  of  form  and  features  were  united  rart 
intellectual  endowments.  To  David  descended 
the  ancestral  gif+s  in  measure  full  and  over- 
flowing. In  him  was  the  culmination  of  the 
genius  of  the  Yandell  family. 

AYheu  five  yeai'S  of  age.  his  family  moved 
to  the  heart  of  the  bluegrass  region.  ''Classi;- 
Lexington."  Doubtless  it  was  here  that  Yan- 
dell laid  the  foundation  for  that  fondness  for 
horses,  dogs,  the  hunt  and  the  chase  which, 
were  to  be  the  chief  sources  of  his  recreation 
during  his  long  and  laborioiis  professional 
career.  At  the  age  of  eleven,  the  family  mov 
ed  to  Tjouisville.  where  David  was  placed  un- 
dei'  the  care  of  the  famous  educator.  Noble 
Butler.  Later  he  attended  several  sessions  at 
Centre  College.  Danville,  where  he  seems  noi 
to  Iiave  been  a  methodical  students,  for  he  left 
the  school  without  a  diploma  and  entered  up- 
on the  study  of  medicine,  luider  his  father's 
dii-ection.  in  the  Fniversity  of  Louisville.  Ht 
gi-aduated  from  this  school  in  1846.  Like 
Goldsmith,  Beethoven,  Scott  and  other  great 
men.  he  is  said  not  to  have  beeu  a  brilliant 
student.  It  was  even  hinted,  by  enemies,  of 
course,  that  he  sraduated  in  medicine  onh-  by 
"tlie  grace  of  God  and  the  good  will  of  the 
facr.lty."  and  iipon  the  further  condition  tliai 
he  should  go  at  once  to  Europe  and  make  up 
for  lost  time.     Be  this  as  it  may.  the  voung 


MEDICAL    PIONEEBS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


103 


fli.dgling  in  medicine  loved  science  and  thirst- 
ed for  kno'.vledg'e ;  and  these  qualities,  rein- 
forced by  keen  powers  of  observation,  a  mar- 
velonsly  retentive  memory,  a  philosophic  fac- 
vlty  for  digesting  and  assimilating  what  he 
saw,  heard  and  read,  enabled  him  to  acquire 
a  finished  culture  and  an  erudition  in  things 
medical  and  non-medical  of  imposing  breadth 
and  depth.  His  sojourn  in  Europe  lasted 
aljout  two  yeai's.  During  this  time,  which 
was  spent  chiefly  in  London,  Dublin  and 
Palis,   he     studied     medicine,     learned     the 


this  series,  Dr.  Yandell  showed  that  a  saying 
he  was  wont  to  quote  in  after  years  was  not 
the  maxim  of  a  flippant  tongue,  but  a  real 
working  formula,  "1  am  a  man,  and  think 
nothing  foreign  to  me  which  pertains  to  hu- 
uuiJiity. ' ' 

The  letters  show  not  only  a  knowledge  of 
men,  their  arts  and  institutions,  remarkable 
ill  a  young  man  of  twenty,  hut  a  com.mand  of 
language  and  a  finished  style  seldom  seen  in 
one  so  young.  The  letters  pertaining  to  his 
profession  were  written  in  !1847,  during  the 


DOCTOR  DAVID  W.  YANDELL 


surgeon  of  Louisville. 
President  of  the  A 


Efreat  teacher,  editor  and  orator. 
Medical  Association. 


Pi'ench  language,  and  acquired  much  of  that 
knowledge  of  men,  manners  and  custonifci 
which  made  him  the  wonder  of  all  who  knew 
him  in  subsequent  years.  This  period  is 
marked  by  two  series  of  letters.  One  was  on 
the  people  and  their  institutions.  It  was  con- 
tributed to  the  Louisville  Journal,  which  was 
■edited  by  George  D.  Prentice.  The  other  was 
on  Medicine,  and  was  published  in  the  West- 
ern .Medical  Journal,  edited  by  Drs.  Drake, 
L.  P.  Yande]]  and  Colescott.     In  the  first  of 


second  year  of  his  pilgrimage.  They  are  in 
the  style  of  a  master,  full  of  facts,  common 
sense  and  philosophic  comment.  They  are 
classics  in  medical  literature.  But  the  power 
and  perspicacity  of  his  style  "grew  with  his 
growtli  and  strengthened  'with  his  strength," 
until  in  later  life  his  forceful  diction  and 
power  of  condensation,  clearness  and  bril- 
liancy rivaled  the  classic  periods  of  Sir 
Thomas  Watson,  or  the  glowing  sentences  of 
Macauley. 


104 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOURNAL. 


His  Europeau  sojourn  ended,  Yaudell  re- 
turned to  Louisville  and  began  in  earnest  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  Young,  brilliant, 
incisive,  with  a  charming-  presence  and  ad- 
dress and  tine  professional  equipment,  he  was 
soon  well  upon  the  way  to  success.  He  was 
appointed  demonstrator  of  anatomy  in  his 
Alma  Mater,  and  in  this  office  acquired  that 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  human  bodj'  and 
that  deftness  of  haiid  which  in  time  made  him 
faalc  prinrcps  in  sni'gery.  In  1S51,  his  health 
gave  way  and  coiupelled  him  to  relinquish,  for 
a  time,  professional  work.  Buying  a  farm 
near  Nashville.  Tennessee,  he  devoted  two 
years  to  the  pursuit  of  agricultui-e. 

.Retrieving  health  in  his  country  retreat, 
Yandell  came  back  to  Louisville  and  entered 
upon  his  professional  work  with  renewed 
vigor  and  a  most  phenomenal  success.  It  was 
Kt  this  time  that  he  established  "The  Stokes 
Dispensary,"  and  thus  became  the  founder  ot 
a  clinical  teaching  in  the  West.  His  practice 
grew  to  imposing  proportions  and  he  soon 
made  for  himself  a  great  name  as  a  teacher  of 
nu-'dicine.  He  was  soon  made  professor  of 
Clinical  Medicine  in  the  University.  His  work 
here  was  destined  to  be  brief.  The  Civil  War 
was  upon  the  countiy,  and  the  j^oung  doctor 
became  a  soldier-,  casting  his  lot  with  the 
Southern  cause.  He  enlisted  at  Bowling 
Green  under  General  Bucknerj  but  was  soon 
transferred  to  General  Hardee's  command, 
from  which  he  was  taken  by  General  Alberi 
►Sidney  Johnston,  who  made  him  medical  di- 
r(3ctor  of  the  department  of  the  West.  Dr. 
"i'andell  continued  to  lill  the  high  office  of 
medical  director  till  the  close  of  tlie  war,  sei-A'- 
ing  successiveh'  on  the  staffs  of  Generals 
Beauregard,  Hardee,  Joseph  E.  Jolmstou  and 
Kirby  Smith.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Shi- 
loll,  ^lurfreesboro  and  Chickamauga.  He  was 
always  a  soldier  of  soldiers,  calm  and  brave 
in  the  face  of  danger,  and  unflinching  to  duty. 
His  department  was  admitted  to  be  one  of  the 
best  ordered  in  the  service. 

At  the  close  of  the  war.  Dr.  Yandell  return- 
ed to  Ijouisville,  where  he  was  welcomed  alike 
by  Unionists  and  Confederates.  A  meeting 
of  Ibe  American  ^ledical  Association  was  ap- 
])ointed  to  take  place  in  Cincinnati  in  1S65. 
Berweeu  the  victorious  Unionists  and  the  con- 
quered Confederates,  the  feeling  was  intense 
and  bitter,  and  the  gap  in  friendship,  alreadv 
wide,  was  widening.  Dr.  Yandell  took  the  in- 
itiative in  "shaking  hands  over  'the  bloody 
chasTii,"  with  his  nortliern  brethren.  In  ^ 
noble,  peace-making  speech,  wherein  he  nomi- 
nated his  great  master.  Dr.  Gross,  for  the 
])residency,  he  carried  the  day  for  harmony, 
hatred  was  deposed,  and  brotherly  love  en- 
throned. Thus  the  medical  profession  was 
the  first  to  substitute  the  white  banner  of 
peace  for  the  blood-stained  ensign  of  war.    At 


iliis  meeting,  Di'.  Yandell  was  elected  one  of 
'he  four  vice-presidents  of  the  Association. 

In  1867,  Dr.  Yandell  was  elected  to  the 
chair  of  the  Science  and  Practice  of  ^ledicine 
in  ihe  Uiiiversity.  In  1869,  he  was  made  pro- 
fessor of  Clinical  Surgery,  a  chair  which  he 
held  till  the  close  of  his  earthly  career.  As  a 
teacher  of  clinical  surgery,  he  probably  had 
no  superior  in  Ihe  woi'ld.  Tall,  Apollo-like 
in  foi'm,  graceful,  handsome,  not  selfconsci- 
ous,  Avith  flowing  chestnut  locks,  deep  brown, 
pi^jjetrating  eyes,  a  face  lined  by  thought, 
aiid  so  muscled  as  to  express  every  gamut 
of  emotion  from  smiles  and  tears  to  tempest- 
uous passion,  with  a  rich,  sonorous,  baritone 
voice  modulated  to  ^very  mood,  and  with  ges- 
ture, pose  and  action  sjiited  to  the  word,  he 
was  an  or.-itor  of  overwhelming  power. 

As  a  .surgeon.  Dr.  Yandell  was  pre-eminent. 
Ill  operating,  he  cut  to  the  line  and  to  the  re- 
quired depth  Avitli  geometrical  precisjon.  His 
dressings  were  beautiful,  while  his  treatment 
of  wounds,  surgical  and  accidental,  was  char- 
acterized by  a  scrupulous  cleanliness  which 
setraed  nothing  less  than  a  prophecj^  of  the 
since  splendid  triumphs  of  aseptic  surgery. 
His  gentleness,  tenderness  and  sympathy  in 
dealing  with  the  sick  were  proverliial  all  over 
tlie  wide  field  of  his  gi'eat  practice.  He  was 
a  wit  and  had  he  been  so  minded  might  have 
entered  this  field  of  literature  in  successfu? 
rivalry  with  Douglas  Jerrold.  Artemus  Ward, 
Josh  Billings,  3Iark  Twain  and  their  like.  He 
was  a  royal  host.  Wlienever  a  dignitary  was 
to  lie  entertained  !)y  the  City,  Yandell  always 
headed  the  committee  of  entertainment.  His 
fame  as  a  conversationalist  was  co-extensive 
with  the  English-speaking  profession. 

In  1870,  Dr.  Yandell,  in  conjunctio]i  with 
Dr.  Theopilus  Parvin,  established  the  .-l»(er- 
icav.  Practitirour,  which  at  once  took  a  com- 
manding position  in  medical  literature  and 
continued  to  influence  medical  opinion  for 
sixteen  years,  when  it  was  combined  with  the 
Medical  News.  As  an  editor  he  was  consci- 
entious and  painstaking.  H^  was  a  pungent 
and  witty  paragraphist.  One  of  his  own  sci- 
entific papers,  published  in  the  second  volume 
of  the  Practitioner,  has  become  classic  in  med- 
ical litoT-ature.  It  is  an  analysis  of  415  cases 
of  tetanus.  The  work  was  done  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  late  Dr.  R.  0.  Cowling.  The 
conclusions  to  which  this  analysis  led  have 
lieen  quoted  in  nearly  every  gi'eat  work  in 
general  surgery  that  has  appeared  since  1S70. 
In  1871,  Dr.  Yandell  was  elected  president  of 
the  American  ]\IedicaI  Association,  the  high- 
est honor  that  can  be  conferi-ed  upon  a  phy- 
sician. He  presided  at  the  subsequent  meet- 
ing with  so  much  grace,  dignity  and  abilitv 
that  the  celebrated  Dr.  Bowditch.  of  Boston, 
j>ublicly  expressed  the  wish  that  he  might  be 
made  president  of  the  Association  for  life. 

In  1870,  Dr.  Yandell  again  visited  Europe, 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY. 


105 


where  he  wrote  another  series  of  sprightly 
and  instructive  letters,  which  were  publish- 
ed in  his  own  journal  of  that  year.  His  last 
visit  to  Europe_  was  in  1880.  In  1886,  he  was 
]iiade  Surgeon-Ueneral  of  the  State  Guard. 
In  1889,  he  was  elected  President  of  the 
American  Snrgieal  Association.  His  address 
as  retiring-  president  of  that  body,  at  its  meet- 
ing in  Washington,  in  ]890,  was  on  Pioneer 
Surgery  in  Kentucky.  It  is  exquisitely  writ- 
ten, and  recites  the  great  deeds  of  Brashear, 
JMcDowell  and  Dudley.  Just  about  this  time 
he  was  made  a  representative  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  to  the  medical  societies  o!; 
Europe.  He  was  also  a  fellow  of  the  Medical 
Society  of  London,  a  member  of  the  Medico- 
(ihirurgical  Society,  showing  how  the  Euro- 
pean profession  recognized  his  position  in  the 
medical  world. 

Hunting  was  his  favorite  pastime.  He  had 
hunted  from  ]\Iaine  to  Georgia,  from  the  Yel- 
lowstone to  the  Rio  Grande,  from  the  Bear- 
grass  to  the  Sacramento.  Among  the  fellows 
of  his  field  sports  were  found  celebrities,  home 
and  foreign,  of  every  calling  and  rank,  from 
common  life  to  royalty. 

Dr.  Yandell  was  a  good  fighter  and  a  fair 
hater.  He  could  give  and  take  hard  blows,  but 
he  loved  with  a  great  heart  and  with  a  con- 
stancy that  knc'W"  no  change.  His  reverent  re- 
gard for  his  great  master,  Dr.  Gross,  attests 
this  truth.  This  love  began  when  Gross  was 
a  Professor  in  the  University,  young,  inex- 
perienced, unknown  to  fame,  and  when  Yan- 
dell was  his  student  and  assistant.  The  love 
was  returned  by  the  master  in  good  measure, 
and  when  the  master  died.  Dr.  Yandell  crys 
tfdiized  his  m'^mory  in  an  epitaph,  engraved  on 
the  tomb  of  Dr.  Gross,  which  will  live  among 
epitaphs  so  long  as  our  language  shall  last. 

Dr.  Gross  and  Dr.  Yandell.  master  and  pu- 
pil, "were  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives," 
and  let  us  hope  that  in  death  they  are  not  dv 
vided;  for  of  them  it  may  be  said  with  equal 
truth  as  of  Saul  and  Jonathan,  "they  were 
swifter  1  han  eagles ;  they  were  stronger  than 
lions." 

It  was  now  the  beginning  of  the  last  decade 
of  the  centurj',  and  Dr.  Yandell  was  an  old 
raan.  Though  erect  in  body  and  sage  and  elo- 
cpient  in  conversation,  he  felt,  and  those  who 
loved  him  could  see,  that  the  fiery  splendor  of 
his  wonderful  soul  must  ere  long  "fall  into 
abatement  and  low  price." 

He  seldom  went  out  after  night,  was  less 
attentive  to  practice,  had  less  confidence  in 
operating  and  wrote  but  little.  He  continued, 
however,  to  find  solace  in  his  books,  boiwer,  or 
fireside,  and  leaned  more  upon  the  bosom  of 
his  trusted  household,  where  loving  hearts 
and  willing  hands  were  ever  ready  to  antici- 
]3ate  his  every  behest,  to  lighten  the  burden 
of  accumulating  years,  and  make  smooth  and 


beautiful  the  sunset  of  his  devoted  life.  He 
died  on  the  second  of  May,  1898,  at  his  home, 
which  had  been  his  own  and  his  father's, 
since  1848. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  OVARIOTOMY  IN 
LOUISVILLE.* 

By  Davjd  W.  Yandell,  M.  D. 

It  may  be  remembered  by  some  members 
now  present  that  in  a,  paper  entitled  an  "Ab 
stract  of  Six  Cases  of  Ovariotomy,"  which  I 
had  the  honor  of  reading  at  the  last  annual 
meeting  of  the  Society,  I  included  a  case 
where  the  operation  was  incomplete,  by  rea- 
son of  the  adhesio2is  making  it  impossible  to 
remove  the  cyst.  I  will  not  repeat  here  what 
i  said  then,  but  will  take  up  the  ease  where 
I  left  it  at  that  time. 

The  tiunor  continued  to  refill,  and  discharg- 
ed great  quantities  of  purulent  fiuid.  Almost 
every  known  antiseptic  and  astringent  inject- 
ion was  employed,  but  without  avail.  A  large 
(h'ainage-tnbe  constantly  worn  became  indis- 
pensable; frequent  cleansing  of  the  cyst  was 
equally  so.  The  patient,  however,  regained 
her  health,  and  went  to  her  home,  in  Illinois, 
iu  the  summer.  She  has  continued  in  good 
gejieral  health  since,  though  unable  to  give 
up  the  drainage-tube  until  a  few  months  ago, 
Vvhen  it  came  out;  and  being  unable  to  re-in- 
troduce it,  she  has  since  gone  without  it, 
while  the  cyst  had  not  appreciably  refilled.  I 
hardly  dare  hope,  however,  that  the  cure  will 
be  permanent. 

I  have  performed  ovariotomy  but  three 
times  since  I  had  the  honor  to  be  appointed  a 
special  committee  on  that  subject.  One  of 
these,  performed  on  a  lady  aged  sixty  from 
Ijexington,  Ky,  and  kindly  sent  to  me  by  the 
late  lamented  Prof.  Bush  and  Dr.  Skillman, 
was  successful,  the  patient  returning  home  in 
six  weeks  after  having  a  tumor  removed  which 
with  its  contents  weighed  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  pounds. 

The  second  and  third  cases  terminated  very 
differently.  The  second  case  was  placed  in 
my  care  by  Dr.  Durrett,  a  medical  friend  liv- 
ing near  Louisville.  The  patient  was  an  un- 
married lady,  aged  nineteen,  of  excellent  con- 
stitution and  health,  from  Anderson  County, 
Kentucky.  The  tumor  had  been  first  noticed 
about  two  years  before,  had  grown  very  slow- 
ly until  a  few  months  prior  to  its  removal, 
and  had  been  unattended  by  any  severe  at- 
tacks of  abdominal  pain,  or  until  recently  by 
appreciable  constitutional  disturbance.  The 
abdomen  was  opened  by  the  long  incision ;  the 
contents  of  the  tumor,  which  consisted  of  a 
straw-colored  albuminous  fluid,  were  drawn 
otT,  and  the  cysts  removed  with  greater  ease 

*Read   before   the    State    Medical    Society   at    Henderson   in 

1875. 


•('6 


KEXTUCKY     MEDICAL     JOll.'XAL. 


iIkiu  1  hail  I'ver  met  with  in  auy  f)revious 
operation.  Tliere  wi^re  no  adhesions.  It  was 
not  necessary  to  carry  even  a  finger  into  the 
t.ixloniinal  cavity.  The  tujnor  was  composed 
ot"  one  large  and  several  smaller  cysts,  and 
weighed  along  with  its  contents  about  twenty 
pounds.  On  the  second  day  after  the  opera- 
lion  peritonitis  set  in,  and  in  two  more  days 
proved  fatal. 

The  Third  ease  was  sent  to  me  from  ilissis- 
sippi,  and  was  in  the  person  of  a  married  wo- 
man, aged  fifty,  a  mother,  who  had  noticed 
aji  abdominal  growth  for  some  years  before 
applying  to  me.  It  had  been  tapped  many 
times,  and  large  quantities  of  fluid  had  been 
lemoved.  For  many  montlis  before  I  saw  her 
the  tappings  were  required  to  be  made  in  the 
epigastric  region  :  for  if  made  below  that  lo- 
cality, the  amount  of  fiuid  which  flowed  away 
was  loo  small  to  give  any  relief  to  the  abdom- 
iiial  tension  and  dys^onoea,  both  of  which  at 
•iines  were  extreme.  The  lady  was  full  of  cour- 
age and  of  hope,  with  tirst-rate  appetite  and 
very  fair  general  health.  An  incision  through 
the  abdominal  walls  revealed  a  multiloeular 
tumor,  which  was  so  generally  and  firmly  ad- 
herent that  no  amount  of  such  skill  as  I  pos- 
sessed enabled  me  to  detach  it  sufficiently  to 
allow  of  the  introduction  of  even  the  half  of 
ray  hand.  The  tumor  Avas  tapped,  but  only  a 
small  amount  of  .ielly-like  fluid  escaped,  the 
gentlemen  present  all  concurring  that  the  op- 
eration could  not  be  completed,  the  wound 
was  cai-efully  closed  in  the  usual  way.  The 
patient  experienced  but  little  shock :  but  when 
riade  aware  of  the  failure  to  remove  the  tu- 
mor she  expressed  extreme  disappointment, 
soon  became  greatly  depressed,  and  abandon- 
ed all  hope,  if  not  also  all  desire,  of  recovery. 
She  died  of  peritonitis  on  the  fourth  day. 
j'rof.  Cowling,  Dr.  T\oberts  and  myself  were 
occupied  for  more  than  an  hour  after  hev 
death  in  removing  the  tumor,  which,  originat- 
ing in  the  left  ovary,  was  attached  literally  to 
everything  in  the  abdominal  cavity  except  the 
stomach.  On  examination  it  proved  to  be  a 
mixed  tumor — partly  colloid,  partly  almost 
solid. 

These  three  cases,  with  the  six  previously 
reported,  give  me  a  total  of  nine  eases,  with 
five  recoveries. 

In  order  to  add  to  the  interest  of  a  repoi-f 
which,  if  it  embraced  an  account  only  of  my 
own  work  in  this  field  within  a  twelvemonth, 
would  be  but  a  poor  i-eturu  for  -the  honor 
done  me  by  the  sooiet.v,  I  have  endeavored  to 
gather  a  brief  history  of  the  operation  of 
ovariotomy  as  it  has  been  done  in  the  city  of 
Louis^'ille  and  the  county  of  Jefferson.  If  1 
accomplish  no  other  resiilt  by  this  undertak- 
ing. 1  shall  at  least  lighten  the  laboi's  of  my 
successors  in  this  field,  by  furnishing  them 
in  an  accessible  form  with  the  statistics  of  tie 
operation  in  this  locality  up  to  this  date. 


The  first  ovariotomy  performed  in  the  c" 
of  Louisville  was  in  1848,  and  was  done  by 
the  late  Prof.  Henry  Jliller:  the  second  was 
in  ISIO,  by  Prof.  Gross;  the  third  was  in  the 
Sfuue  year,  by  Prof.  Bayless.  Dr.  ililler  die! 
his  second  operation  in  1859,  his  third  in  1S60, 
and  all  these  were  successful.  Between  the 
latter  period  and  1868,  he  operated  on  thre-^ 
orher  cases,  all  of  which  terminated  fatally. 
Prof.  ]\liddletou  C4oldsmith  did  ovai-iotomy 
once  in  this  city  while  residing  here,  but  in 
what  year  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain. 
The  result  I  leai-n.  however,  was  unfortunate. 
The  late  Prof.  Bayless  operated  five  times  in 
ibis  city  with  a  fatal  result  in  every  case.  Dr. 
^IcLean,  then  professor  of  surgery  in  the 
Kentucky  School  of  Medicine,  and  an  opera- 
toi'  of  undoubted  skill,  operated  in  1869.  The 
patient,  who  was  a  young  unmarried  woman, 
resided  in  Louisville.  Prof.  ileLean  made 
ilv  sho2-t  incision,  and  removed  a  unilocular 
tumor,  which  was  without  adhesions.  Death 
occurred  in  a  few  hours  from  shock. 

Dr.  Garvin  has  given  me  the  following  ac- 
count of  his  first  and  only  case.  Patient  un- 
married, aged  thirty  years,  healthy;  tumor 
first  observed  two  years  before  operation, 
which  was  done  in  1869 :  long  incision ;  ex- 
tensive adhesions;  tumor  multilocular ;  pedicle 
long,  secured  by  ligature.  Death  in  nine 
hours  from  shock. 

Througli  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Thos.  J.  Grif- 
fiths I  have  the  following  bi"ief  outlines  of  a 
case  occurring  in  his  practice  and  operated 
ou  in  1S72  by  Dr.  W.  H.  Newman,  formerly 
of  this  eit.v.  Patient  aged  forty-four  years, 
nuirried ;  observed  tumor  four  years  before : 
had  been  tapped  three  times:  long  incision:  no 
adhesions:  tumor  imilocidar:  pedicle  secured 
by  ligature;  extra-peritoneal.  Dr.  X.,  being 
of  the  opinion  that  the  fatality  which  had  at- 
tended ovariotomy  in  Louisville  might  per- 
haps be  dne  in  some  degree  to  the  nausea 
^\■hiel^  so  often  follows  chloroform  narcosis, 
operated  without  an  anesthetic.  His  patient 
died  two  days  after  of  exhaustion. 

3Iy  friend  Dr.  E.  0.  Bro\\-n  has  had  one 
case  of  ovariotomy  in  his  practice,  the  opera- 
lion,  at  his  request,  ha'vang  been  performed  by 
Professor  J.  M,  Keller  in  November,  1873. 
The  patient  was  married  and  aged  thirty-five 
years.  The  tumor  was  multilocular;  long  in- 
cision; ligature:  extra-peritoneal.  The  pa- 
tient died  in  about  thirty  hours. 

Prof.  Cowling  has  operated  twice,  both 
cases  proving  fatal.  Prof.  Ireland  has  oper- 
ated once.  The  subject  was  forty-three  years 
old,  married;  had  noticed  the  tumor  for  sev- 
eral years.  On  one  occasion,  one  or  more  of 
the  cysts  had  burst,  the  fluid  escaping  into 
the  peritoneal  ca\-ity  with  evident  diiiiinu 
lion  in  the  size  of  the  tumor.  She  had  at  tliis 
time  rigors,  sinking,  extreme  abdominal  pain, 
and  other  symptoms     of     peritonitis.     Some 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL'S     OF    KENTUCKY, 


107 


months  after  tlus  she  was  tapped  and  the 
fluid  in  the  peritoneum  withdrawn.  Ninety 
days  subsequent  to  the  tapping  the  tumor  was 
removed  through  the  ■  long  incision  and  the 
pedicle  tied  externally.  There  were  extensive 
adhesions.  The  patient  recovered  well  from 
the  chloroform,  and  for  four  hours  was  com- 
fortable. She  then  vomited  and  experienced 
a  gush  of  fluid  from  the  wound.  This  she 
mistook  for  blood,  and  was  seized  with  the  ap- 
prehension of  sadden  dissolution.  Although 
assured  that  no  hemorrhage  had  taken  place, 
she  grew  cold,  the  pulse  sank,  and  in  spite  of 
well-directed  treatment  she  expired  within 
twenty  hours.  The  cyst  contained  a  bunch  of 
hair  as  large  as  the  fist,  and  several  well- 
formed  teeth,  the  roots  of  which  were  imbed- 
ded in  the  cyst  walls. 

Prof.  A.  B.  Cook  operated  on  the  following 
case  in  1871 :  Mrs.  — ,  age  thirty  years,  the 
mother  of  three  children,  the  youngest  eight- 
teen  months  old,  had  observed  an  abdominal 
tumor  six  months  before.  One  of  the  cysts  was 
emptied  by  the  aspirator  of  six  qi^arts  of  pur- 
ulent fluid.  A  month  later  a  multilocular 
tumor  was  removed  by  the  long  incision. 
There  were  very  firm  adhesions,  embracing  a 
large  portion  of  the  parietal  peritoneum,  the 


ascending  and  descending  colon,  and  portions 
of  the  small  intestines.  The  jjedicle  was  short, 
^\-as  secured  by  ligature  and  dropped  back  in- 
to the  abdomen,  the  ends  of  the  ligature  being 
brought  out  at  lower  angle  of  wound.  Death 
ensued  in  seventy-two  hours  from  shock, 
rhe  autops}^  revealed  that  the  abdominal 
wound  had  united  h.y  first  intention.  Those 
IJortions  of  the  peritoneum  and  intestines 
which  had  been  adlierent  to  the  tumor  were 
glued  together  by  plastic  fibrin ;  the  pedicle 
was  well  glazed.  There  were  no  evidences 
anywhere  of  undue  inflammatory  action,  and 
but  a  few  spoonfuls  of  s'erum  in  tlie  pelvic 
cavity. 

Dr.  W.  L.  Atlee  operated  in  1872  in  this 
city  on  a  middle-aged,  unmarried  lady,  remov- 
ing a  unilocular  unadherent  tumor  by  the 
small  incision.  The  patient  died  in  about  seven- 
ty hours  from  exhaustion. 

Dr.  Dunlap,  of  Ohio,  removed  some  time 
during  the  war  an  ovarian  tumor  in  this  city 
with  a  successful  result. 

It  will  thus  ))e  seen  that  ovariotomy  has 
bcer.v  done  in  Louisville  and  -Jefferson  County 
tliirty-six  times,  resulting  m  nine  recoveries 
and  twenty-seven  deaths. 


IV.    THE  GENERAL  KENTUCKY  GROUP 


FOREWORD 


The  arrangenieiit  adopted  for  this  group,  as 
is  true  to  an  extent  of  all  of  the  others,  in- 
volves an  unavoidable  anachronism.  In  fact, 
iiut  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader,  and  a 
natural  tendency  of  writers  and  speakers  to 
comijlieate  the  simplest  subjects  by  attempts 
at  division  and  classification,  all  of  the  biog- 
raphies and  papers  contained  in  this  volume 
might  "well  have  been  placed  in  this  one  gen- 
I'l'al  group. 

Besides,  broadly  considered,  there  was  much 
in  common  in  both  the  origin  and  accomplish- 
riiejits  of  these  remarkable  men.  Nearly  all  of 
tliera  sprang  from  what  is  distinctly  known  in 
this  part  of  the  Union  as  the  cavalier  class. 
'L'he  office  of  the  preceptor,  rather  than  the 
medical  school,  as  it  is  to-day,  was  then  the 
portal  to  the  profession,  and  onlj'  those  were 
adiuitted  to  the  study  of  medicine  M'ho  either 
came  of  good  families  and  had  ability,  or  who 
themselves  had  exceptional  ability  and  char- 
acter :  which  always  presuj^posed  a  far  higher 
education  than  was  required  for  entrance  to 
the  medical  schools  during  and  for  a  long 
period  after  the  civil  war.  Admitted  to  the 
study  of  medicine  after  such  tests,  the  train- 
ing was  far  more  thorough  and  practical  than 
that  of  the  comjnercial  medical  schools  of  thL' 
after  the  war  regime.  Such  a  student  hand- 
led, compounded,  often  gathered,  the  drugs, 
and,  incidentally,  was  something  of  a  botanist 
and  nature  student,  and  he  Avas  mercilessly 
drilled  in  anatomy,  physiology  and  the  other 
fiuidamenlal  branches,  and  difficult  obstetrical 
operations  and  other  practice,  and  scarcely 
less  important,  was  a  constant  observer,  often 
look  a  modes^^  part  in  the  simple  and  natural, 
but  highly  aft'able,  social  methods  which  ob- 
tained in  the  conduct  of  practice  in  that  day. 
bolh  in  Ihe  office  of  {he  physician  and  in  fhe 
liomes  of  his  patrons.  After  an  extended  ap- 
prenticeship of  this  practical  kind,  all  who 
could  do  so  attended  one  or  more  sessions  at 
one  of  the  two  or  three  Jiigh  grade  medical 
schools  of  this  country,  while  a  fortunate  few,- 
like  Brashear,  McDowell.  Dudley  and  Brown 
availed  themselves  of  the  best  foreign  schools 
and  travel  before  considering  their  education 
complete. 

With  such  an  origin,  advantages  and  at- 
tainments, the  i^hysician  then  was  a  self-re- 
specting and  higlily  respected  man,  somewhat 


opinionated  and  dogmatic  it  may  be,  Init,  none 
the  less  on  that  account,  recognized  as  one  of 
the  leaders  of  thought  and  of  public  affairs  in 
his  community.  In  the  days  of  slavery  in  Ken- 
tucky there  was  little  or  no  charity  practicf' 
for  him  to  do.  except  for  a  few  worthy  widows 
aiid  clergymen,  upon  whom  he  considered  it  a 
jn'ivilege  to  attend.  In  striking  contrast  with 
the  present  day  experience  with  the  colored 
race,  it  was  a  common  saying  then  "that  a  ne- 
gro riding  up  to  a  doctor's  office  on  a  mule  to 
call  him  to  visit  a  patient,  white  or  black,  on 
any  plantation,  was  the  equivalent  to  him  of 
two  guarantees,  the  darky  and  his  mount,  that 
he  would  be  paid  for  his  .services;"  and,  all 
tilings  considered,  he  was  paid  far  better  fees 
than  his  successor  of  this  da.'S'.  As  a  result  of 
these  conditions  a  few  years  of  practice  usu- 
ally .suffi.ced  to  make  him  financiallj^  independ- 
ent :  he  rode  the  finest  and  best  caparisoned 
liorses,  had  the  choicest  man-serAant  to  care 
for  his  clothes  and  person,  and  his  home,  one 
of  the  best  of  the  comnuiuity,  was  usually  a 
centre  of  culture  and  refinement.  And  this 
fhiancial  independence,  as  it  is  to-day,  was  as 
important  to  the  community  as  to  himself,  be- 
cause it  made  it  possible  for  him  to  have  the 
kind  of  library  and  instrumental  equipment 
which  fitted  him  to  meet  any  emergency  with 
'.vhich  he  was  confronted  in  his  life-saving 
A\'ork,  as  these  biographies  show  that  he  did 
with  great  intelligence  and  courage. 

And,  using  this  much  abused  term  in  its 
broadest  and  best  sense,  these  were  highly 
educated  men.  Herbert  Spencer  argiies  with 
indisputable  power  and  logic  that,  "To  pre 
])are  us  for  complete  living — how  to  use  all 
our  faculties  to  the  greatest  advantage  of  our- 
selves and  others — is  the  function  which  edu- 
cation has  to  discharge ;  and  the  only  ration- 
al mode  of  judging  of  any  educational  course 
is,  to  jitdge  in  what  degi-ee  it  discharges  such 
function."  That  is,  to  use  the  words  of  the 
blaster,  the  last  and  best  of  all  authorities, 
"By  their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them." 

^Measured  by  these  standards,  fixed  by  the 
highest  authorities  on  education  and  its  uses, 
or  by  any  other,  as  relates  to  our  profession, 
wliich  has  regard  for  utility  and  humanity 
how  do  these  Kentucky  pioneers  compare 
with  the  erudite  medical  savants  of  all  the 
ages  which  pi'eeeded  them.  "Look  on  this  pic- 
ture and  then  on  that."  From  the  founding 
of  the  first  Eui'opean  medical  school  at  the 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


109 


University  of  Salerno  in  the  twelfth  century, 
not  only  to  the  day  McDowell  saw  Mrs.  Craw- 
ford in  what  fl'as  then  the  wilds  of  Green 
County,  in  1790,  but  until  almost  a  generation 
afterwards  when  scholarly  incredulity  as  to 
the  work  of  this  master  mind  in  this  western 
wilderness  was  overcome,  countless  thousands 
of  women  A^-ith  ovai'ian  tumors  must  have 
come  under  the  observation  of  the  university- 
bred  scholars  of  Rome,  Vienna,  Paris,  Lon- 
don, Edinburgh,  and  the  other  great  medical 
centres,  and  gone  on  to  their  miserable  deaths 
without  so  much  as  an  effective  suggestion, 
even  for  the  mitigation  of  these  conditions, 
and,  mth  a  proper  modification  of  expression, 
the  same  may  be  said  in  a  degree  of  the  work 
of  Dudley.  Brashear.  Bradford  and  others. 

How  did  these  forbears  of  ours,  these  pio- 
neers, succeed  where  through  cou]itless  ages, 
all  others  had  failed?  Why  did  they,  Hke 
(.'olumbus,  embark  o'er  a  trackless  ocean  to 
discover  new  worlds  in  medicine  and  surgery, 
and  why,  like  him,  did  they  scorn  derision  and 
incredulity  until  they  had  not  only  discovered 
these  worlds,  but  had  established  the  verity 
and  value  of  their  discoveries?  What  was  the 
real  basis  of  their  courag'e  and  success?  In  a 
word,  what  was  there  in  them  not  found  in 
other  members  of  our  profession  of  all  the  ages 
who  had  preceded  them?  Was  there  some- 
thing superior  in  the  fiber  of  their  more  re- 
mote ancestors,   mothers  as  well  as  fathers. 


who  courageously  emigrated  to  this  new 
world ;  or  still  more,  was  such  fiber  or  ciual- 
ities  developed  and  intensified  in  their  par- 
ents who  faced  the  denizens  of  the  untrodden 
forests,  savage  and  beast,  on  their  way  to,  and 
about  their  settlements  in  Kentucky,  or  by 
their  birth  and  growth  amidst  such  surround- 
ings and  dangers?  Did  they  gain  such  mental 
momentum  and  grasp  in  overcoming  difficult- 
ies encountered  in  laborious  self -education 
that  it  carried  them  over  or  through  the  ob- 
stacles which  stood  in  the  way  of  their  discov- 
eries? Or  was  there  something  in  the  Siluri- 
an or  Devonian  rocks  and  measures  they  trod, 
or  in  the  water  or  food  impregnated  by  them, 
which  built  upon  the  ancestry  referred  to  and 
developed  a  still  higher  Iraman  product,  as 
seems  to  be  shown  in  the  lives  of  Clay,  Critten- 
den, Breckinridge  and  other  of  our  great 
leaders  in  public  affairs,  and  in  horses  and 
otlier  high  bred  animals  in  Kentucky.  Or,  as 
seems  more  probable,  was  it  a  fortunate  com- 
bination of  all  these  ancestries,  surroundings 
and  influences,  which  lu'ought  such  boons  to 
suffering  humanity,  and  such  an  inheritance 
to  us  ?  Humanity  is  receiving  its  full  measure 
of  the  benefits,  and  it  behooves  us  to  so  order 
our  lives,  and  professional  accomplishments 
that  we  shall  prove  worthy  to  build  and  im- 
prove upon  this  inheritance. 

J,  N.  JMcCoRirACK 


^!^ 


no 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     -Jor'h'NAL. 


THE      BIRTH      OF     THE      KENTUCKY 
STATE  ilEDiCAT  SOCIETY.* 

IVnNrTTES     OF    ORGANIZATION     CONVENTION     PRE- 
CEDING   FIRST    ANNUAL    MEETING. 

At  a  eonveution  of  the  Physicians  of  Ken- 
tucky, held  in  the  Senate  Chamber  at  I'rank- 
lortron  the  1st  day  of  October,  1851,  10  o'- 
clock A.  M.,  Dr.  W.  Ij.  Sutton,  of  Georgetown, 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Drs.  E.  H.  Wat- 
son and  J.  ^r.  ilills,  of  Frankfort,  appointed 
Secretaries. 

On  motion,  a  committee,  consisting  of  Drs. 


D.  Thompson,  R.  -J.  Breckinridge,  Jr.,  N.  B. 
Anderson  and  J.  B.  Flint,  of  Louisville:  E. 
D.  Force,  -Jefferson  County;  J.  Dudley  and 
J.  P.  Letcher,  Nicholasville ;  W.  L.  Sutton, 
]]enry  Craig,  and  John  D.  Winston,  George- 
town; C.  H.  Spillman,  Harrodsburg;  W.  R. 
Evans,  jMercer  County;  A.  Evans,  Covington; 
W.  R.  Chew.  Midway;  George  B.  Harrison, 
Fayette  County;  W."  S.  Chipley  and  D.  J. 
Avers,  Lexington;  W.  C.  Sneed,  H.  Rodman, 
C."  C.  Phythian,  E.  H.  Watson,  Ben  [Monroe, 
Jr.,  J.  i\L  IVIills,  Joseph  G.  Roberts  .and  Ben 
^ensleJ^  Frankfort ;  L.  Y.  Hodges,  Franklin 
County;  E.  H.  Black  and   James  R.  Adams, 


DOCTOR  WILLIAM  L.  SUTTON 

1797- -1861 
One  of  the  leading  spirits  in  oreranizing:  the  State  Medical  Society,  and  its 
first  President.     It  was  due  to  his  influence  mainly  that  the  first  lavv  was  passed 
requiring  the  registration  of  births  and  deaths,  and  he  was  the  first  State  Regis- 
trar of  vital  Statistics  and  published  valuable  reports  for  a  number  of  years. 


Chipley,  Evans,  and  Breckinridge,  was  ap- 
jjointed  to  ascertain  the  names  and  localities 
of  the  physicians  present,  who  reported  the 
t'ollon-iiig: 

Drs.  S.  D.  Gross.  Henrv  [Miller,  W.  H.  .Mil- 
ler. David  W.  Yandell.  T.  G.  Richardson,  D. 


Reprint    fron 
1853. 


the    Medical    News   and   Lihrat-y,    .Tanuary 


Scott  Countv:  Joshua  Gore,  Nelson  Countv; 

D.  L.  Slaughter  and  R.  W.  Glass,  Shelb\-A'ille ; 

L.  G.  Ray  and  Edward  Ingles.  Paris,  and  E. 

C.  Drane,  Henry  County. 

Dr.  Flint  offered  the  following  resolution: 
Resolved,  That be  a  committee 

1  f,  report  to  this  Convention  a  suitable  adcLress 

to  the  profession  of  tlie  State,  calling  upon 


MEDICAL    PIONEEJiS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


111 


them  to  assemble  at  such  time  and  place  as 
this  meeting  may  advise,  for  the  purpose  of 
organizing"  :\  permanent  State  Medical  So- 
ciety; and  that,  in  the  meantime,  we  take 
steps  at  once  to  connect  tlie  profession  of  our 
State  with  the  national  organization,  by  ap- 
j-.ointing  delegates  to  attend  the  next  annual 
meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 

Dr.  Breckinridge  offered  the  following  as  a 
substitute  for  the  resolution  of  Dr.  Flint. 
Strike  out  all  after  the  word  resolved,  and 
insert  the  follo\^^ng: 

That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  report 
the  order  of  business  for  the  convention  now 
assembled. 

The  original  resolution  and  substitute  were 
|ioth  laid  on  the  table,  and  a  committee  con- 
sisting of  Drs.  Chipley,  Spillman  and  A.  Ev- 
il ds,  Dudley  a]id  Sneed,  was  appointed  to 
draft  a  constitution  for  the  formation  of  a 
State  Medical  Society.  The  Convention  ad- 
.journed  until  half  past  2  o'clock. 

Half  Past  2  0 'Clock  P.  M. 

The  Convention  was  called  to  order  by  the 
I'resident.  Dr.  Chipley,  from  the  committee 
appointed  to  draft  a  constitution,  presented 
the  following  report,  which,  on  motion  of  Dr. 
Gfoss,  was  received.* 

1'he  reported  constitution  was  taken  up, 
etich  article  separately  considered,  and,  after 
slight  amendments,  was  adopted  as  a  whole. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Gross,  a  committee,  con- 
sisting of  one  from  each  city  and  county  now 
represented,  and  entitled  to  a  representative 
in  the  State  Legislature,  was  appointed  to 
jiominate  officers  of  the  Society  for  the  pres- 
(•nt  year. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed : 
Dr.  Breckinridge,  of  Louisville :  Dr.  Foree, 
of  Jefferson;  Dr.  Letcher,  of  Jessamine:  Dr. 
Spillman,  of  Mercer;  Dr.  Harrison,  of  Fay- 
ette; Dr.  Roberts  of  Franklin;  Dr.  Gore  of 
Nelson;  Dr.  Slaughter,  of  Shelby;  Dr.  Evans, 
of  Kenton ;  Dr.  Chew,  of  "Woodford,  and  Dr. 
Black,  of  Scott;  who  after  a  short  interval, 
I'oported  the  names  of  the  following  persons 
as  suitable  to  fill  the  various  offices: 

For  President— Dr.  "W.  L.  Sutton,  of 
Georgetown. 

For  Senior  Vice-President — Dr.  W.  S. 
Chipley,  of  Tjexington. 

For  Junior  Vice  President — Dr.  J.  Dudley, 
of  Nicholasville. 

For  Beeording  Secretary — Dr.  W.  C. 
Sneed,  Frankfort. 

For  Corresponding  Secretary — Dr.  R.  J. 
]'>reekinridge,  Jr.,  of  Louisville. 

For  Librarian — Dr.  Ben  Moore,  of  Frank- 
fm-t. 

The  report  was  received,  and  the  ballot  bo-  . 
ing  taken  on  each  officer  separately,  the  nomi- 

*See  Coristitution,  Page  112. 


nees   of    the    committee   were    declared    duly 
elected. 

Drs.  J.  M.  Mills,  E.  H.  Watson,  and  W.  C. 
Sneed,  of  Frankfort,  were  elected  a  committee 
of  pn'blication. 

T'ho  Convention  then  adjourned  sine  die. 
and  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  State 
Medical  Society  of  Kentucky  was  held,  and 
proceeded  to  business. 

W.  L,  Sutton,  President. 

E.  H.  Watson. 

J.  M.  Mills, 

Secretaries. 


PROCEEDINGS     OF     THE     FIRST    AN- 
NUAL MEETING  OF  THE  STATE 
MEDICAL  SOCIETY  OF  KEN- 
TUCKY. 

At  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  State  JMed- 
ica  Society  of  Kentucky,  held  in  the  Senate 
Chamber  at  Frankfort,  on  the  1st  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1S51,  at  5  o'clock,  P.  M.,  the  President. 
Dr.  W.  L.  Sutton,  took  the  chair,  and  called 
the  Society  to  order. 

On  motion  of  D^.  Ayres,  a  committee,  con- 
sisting of  Drs.  Dudley.  Yandell.  Garrison, 
Roberts,  and  Wilson,  was  appointed  to  apply 
to  the  next  m.eeting  of  the  Legislature  for  a 
charter  for  the  Society. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Chipley,  the  next  annual 
laeeting  of  the  Society  as  ordered  to  be  held 
in  the  city  of  Louisville,  on  the  tliird  Wednes- 
day in  October,  1852. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Richardson,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Code  of  Medical  Ethic? 
of  the  .'Vmerican  Medical  Association  be 
adopted  as  the  Code  of  this  Society. 

Dr.  Chipley  presented  a  form  of  charter 
for  the  Society,  which,  after  some  discussion, 
was  v\dth drawn. 

On  motioii  of  Dr.  Breckinridge,  a  commit- 
tee, consisting  of  Drs.  Rodman,  Anderson, 
'J'homson.  Ayres,  and  Spillman,  was  appoint- 
erl  to  draft  a  set  of  by-laws. 

The  application  of  Dr.  J.  C.  Darby,  of  Lex- 
ington, was  received  for  membership,  and 
then  the  Society  adjourned  until  half  past  7 
0  'clock. 

Half  Past  7  0 'Clock. 

The  Society  was  called  to  order  hy  the  Presi 
dent. 

The  application  of  Dr.  Darby  was  taken  up, 
and  he  was  duly  elected  a  member  of  the  So- 
ciety. 

The  president  announced  the  appointment 
of  the  following  gentlemen  as  Chairmen  of 
the  various  standing  committees,  each  Chair- 
),iian  ha.ving  the  liberty  to  select  two  others  as 
associates:! 

"Up  to  tho  time  of  the  proceedings  going  to  press,  the 
Chairmen  of  several  of  the  committees  had  not  handed  in 
the  names  of  their  associates. 


J]-. 


KEXTUCKY     JIEDKAL    JOVRXAL. 


Chairman  of  Committee  of  Arrangements— 
Di-  Anderso!!:  Drs.  Breckinridge  and  W.  H. 
-Miller,  Associates. 

(""hairman  of  Committee  on  Improvements 
ill  Practical  iledieine — Dr.  Force;  Drs.  Koil- 
]iian  and  Ricliardson,  Associates. 

( 'hairman  of  Comjnittee  on  Improvements 
in  T'harmacy— Dr.  ilills;  Drs.  Crore  and  Ray> 
-Vssociai es. 

C!hairma7i  of  Committee  on  Vital  Statistics 
— Dr.  Cliipley:  Drs.  Yandell  and  Dudley,  As- 
sociates. 

Cliairman  of  Committee  on  Obstetrics — Dr. 
11.  driller:  Drs.  Sneed  and  Letcher,  Associ- 
ates. 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  ^ledical  Eth'cs 
—Dr.  A.  Evans. 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Public  Hvgiene 
—Dr.  E.  C.  Drane. 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Epidemics— 
Dr.  Darby. 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Improvement  in 
Surgery — Dr.  Gross. 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Indigenous 
Botany — Di-.  Spillman. 

Chairman  of  Committee  on  Finances — Dr. 
Tliompson. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Bi-eckinridge,  the  Presi- 
dent was  appointed  Chairman  of  a  committer 
to  memorialize  the  Legislature  upon  the  sub- 
.iect  of  registration  of  marriages,  births,  and 
deaths. 

The  Comn-'ittee  on  By-Laws  was  granted 
until  UHXt  regular  meeting  of  the  Society  to 
report. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Breckinridge,  the  Society 
determined  to  go  into  the  election  of  honorary 
inembers.  The  vote  was  reconsidered,  and  the 
snb.iect  for  the  present  postponed. 

The  Society  elected  +he  following  pei*sons 
as  delegates  to  the  ne.xt  animal  meeting  of  the 
American  ^ledical  Association,  viz:  Drs.  E. 
0.  Rav,  E.  D.  Force.  T.  G.  Richardson.  D.  J. 
Ayei-s,  D.  S.  Slaughter.  E.  C.  Drane,  W.  H. 
."^tiller.  IV.  R.  Evans  and  Joshua  Gore. 

A  series  of  resolutions  were  offered  by  the 
Pi-esident,  Dr.  Sutton,  which  were  laid  over 
until  the  next  regular  meeting. 

The  Secretary  and  Treasure)-  were  requir- 
ed to  give  bonds  in  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
iiollars  each,  for  tlic  faithful  performance  of 
their  respective  duties. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Gross,  the  Pi-esident  was 
requested  to  deliver  an  opening  address  at  the 
next  annual  meeting  of  the  Society.' 

The  Society  recommended  the  formation  oi 
County  ^ledical  Societies. 

The  record  of  proceedings  was  read,  am) 
alter  sliglit  ainen<lments  was  adopted,  and 
ordered  to  be  published  in  connection  with 
the  Constitution  and  Code  of  ^ledi.-al  Etliics. 

A  vote  of  thanks  v.as  tendered  the  officers 
of  the  Society   for  the  prompt   and  efficient 


manner  in   which   they   discharged   their   re- 
spective duties,  and 

The  Society  adjoiirned. 

W.  L.  SuTTOX,  President. 

W.  C.  SxEED,  Secretary. 


XOTE — Owing  to  the  limited  lime  in  which  the  notice 
for  the  call  of  the  Convention  was  issued  the  attendance 
was  comparatively  small:  but,  as  will  he  observed  from  the 
proceedings,  the  Society  may  now  be  regarded  as  constituted 
upon  such  a  permanent  basis  as  will  tend  tc  the  elevation 
of  the  profession,  and  a  more  zealous  and  harmonious  Co 
operation   in  aceompli.shing  its  legitimate  objt'cts. 

All  regular  surgeons  and  physicians  in  the  State  arc  re- 
quested to  unite  with  the  Society,  on  the  terms  prescribed 
by  the  Constitution,  and  forward  their  applications,  prepaid, 
to  Dr.  W.  C.  Sneed,  Recording  Secretary,  Frankfort. 

Several  applications  have  already  been  received  since  the 
adjournment. 

Particualr  attention'  is  requested  to  the  Code  of  Ethics. 


CONST ITFTIOX    OF    THE    KENTUCKY 
STATE  MEDICAL  SOCIETY  ADOPT- 
ED AT  FIRST  :\1EETING.  HELD 
AT  FRANKFORT  IN  1851. 
A-RTICLE  I. 

Title  of  the  Association. 

This  association  shall  be  known  as  the  Ken- 
tucky State  ^ledieal  Society,  and  .shall  be 
composed  of  permanent,  temporaiy,  and  hon- 
oi-ary  members. 

ARTICLE  II. 
Oriects  of  the  Associatiox. 
The  objects  contemplated  by  the  Kentucky 
State  iledical  Society  are, 
1.     The  establishment     and     maintenance  of 
iinion.    harmony,    and    good    government 
among  its   members,    thereby  promoting 
the  character,  interest,  honor,  and  useful- 
ness of  the  profession. 
1.     The  cultivation  and  advancement  of  iled- 
ical  science  and  literature,  by  the  collect- 
ion, dilfusion.  interchange,  preservation, 
and  general  circulation  of  medical  knowl- 
edge throughout  the  State. 

ARTICLE  III. 

MEJIBERSHIP. 

Section  1.  The  Kentuckj-  State  ^Medical 
SocietA'  shall  be  composed  of  all  the  Physiei- 
ims  and  Surgeons  now  members  of  this  Con- 
vention, and  such  other  persons  as  may  be  ad- 
iiiittecl  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  fol- 
lowing sections  of  this  article. 

Sec.  2.  Everv  candidate  for  PER:\IAN- 
ENT  :ME:\IBERSHIP,  must  make  applica- 
tion to  the  society  in  writing,  bearing  his  own 
signature.  Such  application  is  to  be  pi'esent- 
ecl  and  seconded  by  members  having  a  compe- 
{ejit  knowledge  of  the  character  and  standing 
of  the  applicant.  The  application  shall  lie 
over  at  least  one  adjournment  of  the  society, 
after  which  the  candidate  shall  be  ballotted 
for,  and  the  approving  votes  of  three-fourths 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


113 


of  the  members  present  shall  be  necessary  to 
his  admission. 

Sec.  3.  The  TEMPORARY  MEMBERS, 
shall  be  those  who  may  be  selected  by  any. 
regularly  organized  City,  Town,  or  County 
Medical  Society,  to  represent  said  society  in 
the  state  association.  Their  member.ship 
shall  termina.te  with  the  session  for  which 
thev  mav  have  been  elected. 

Sec.  4.  HONORARY  MEMBERSHIP, 
shall  be  confei-red  only  on  distinguished 
r.jedieal  gentlemen  residing  beyond  the  limits 
ot  i.lie  Commonwealth  of  Kentucky. 

Sec.  5.  The  election  of  Honorary  Members 
can  take  place  only  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Society,  and  not  more  than  three  shall  be 
elected  in  any  one  year. 

Sec.  6.  The  election  of  Honorary  IMembers 
sliall  be  by  ballot,  and  the  concurring  votes 
of  four-fifths  of  the  members  present  shall  be 
necessary  to  their  election. 

Sec.  7.  Honorary  Members  shall  be  ex- 
empt from  all  pecuniary  contributions  to  the 
society,  and  shall  have  all  the  pi-ivileges  of 
perpjanent  and  temporary  members,  except 
the  right  of  voting  and  holding  office. 

Sec.  8.  Evei-:^^  member  shall  be  entitled  to 
a  certificate  of  his  membership  after  he  shall 
have  complied  with  the  requisition  of  Article 
3,  find  on  p'^yment  of  one  dollar  to  the  Re- 
cording Secretary.  The  form  of  such  cer- 
tificate  shall  be  prescribed  by  the  by-laws. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

FEES. 

All  members  of  this  society  not  exempted 
by  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution,  shall, 
at  The  time  of  their  admission  pay  to  the  so 
cic'tv  a  fee  of  two  dollars,  and  sliall  also  pa\ 
once  a  year,  to  fall  due  en  the  first  day  of 
each  annual  meeting,  such  contributions  as 
the  by-laws  may.  from  time  to  time,  prescribe. 

ARTICLE  V. 

RESTGXATTON  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 

Any  member  wishing  to  withdraw  from  the 
society,  may  do  so  when  he  shall  have  present 
ed  the  Secretary's  receipt  for  all  moneys  due. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

FORFEITURE  OP   MEMBERSHIP  AND  OTHER 


Section  1 .  Any  member  who '  shall  be 
guilty  of  gross  misconduct  either  as  a  member 
or  a  citizen  of  the  community,  or  shall  be  pal- 
pably derelict  in  duty  either  as  a  member  or 
officer,  shall  he  liable  to  expulsion,  or  such 
other  eensurp  as  the  society  may  direct. 

See.  2.  No  judgment  of  expulsion,  suspen- 
sion, or  other  censure,  sliall  be  passed  againsi 
a  member  until  after  due  notice  and  fair  trial : 
but  the  society  may  proceed  in  the  absence  of 
the  delinquent  if    such    due  notice  has  been 


given  and  the  member  fails  to  attend.  No 
member  shall  be  expelled  unless  by  the  votes 
of  three-fourths  of  the  members  present.  And 
sliould  such  member  come  foi^ward  at  the  next 
."■nnual  meeting  succeeding  his  expulsion,  and 
offer  a  satisfactory  explanation,  he  may  be  re- 
iiistated  without  delay  or  expense,  provided 
tlu'ee-fourths  of  the  members  present  agree 
thereto.  In  this  case  the  vote  shall  be  taken 
by  ballot. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

MEETINGS. 

Section  1.  This  society  shall  liold  its  ses- 
sion for  the  pi-esent  year,  commencing  on  the 
first  day  of  October,  and  shall  hereafter  con- 
vene annually  on  the  third  Wednesday  of  Oe- 
tolier,  at  such  placps  as  the  society  may,  from 
time  to  time,  direct. 

Sec.  2.  Special  meetings  may  be  held  by 
resolution  of  the  society  at  its  stated  meetings, 
and  at  such  other  times  as  the  President  shall 
aj)point. 

See.  3.  None  but  professional  or  literary 
subjects  shall  be  considered  at  special  meet- 
ings. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

ELECTIVE    OFFICERS. 

Section  1.  The  elective  officers  of  this  so- 
ciety shall  consist  of  a  President,  Senior  and 
•Junior  Vice  President,  Recording  and  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  Treasurer,  Librarian,  and 
a  Committee  of  Publication,  of  three  mem- 
bers ;  all  of  whom  shall  be  chosen  bv  ballot  at 
each  annual  meeting,  and  shall  continue  in  of- 
fice for  twelve  months,  or  until  another  elect- 
ion. The  election  shall  be  held  on  the  second 
day  of  the  session,  after  reading  the  records 
of  proceedings  of  the  preceding  day. 

Sec.  2.  In  conducting  the  annual  election, 
should  more  than  two  members  be  ballotted 
for  for  any  officer,  the  member  having  the 
smallest  number  of  votes  on  the  second  or  any 
subsequent  ballot,  .shall  not  again  be  voted  for 
for  the  same  office. 

Sec.  3.  A  majority  of  the  suffrage  of  the 
members  present  shall  be  necessary  to  an  elec- 
tion. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS. 

Section  1.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
PRESIDENT  to  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the 
society,  to  preserve  order,  and  to  regulate  the 
debate  accoi-ding  to  the  most  approved  rules 
of  parliamentary'  proceedings,  provided,  any 
member  may  appeal  to  the  society  from  the 
President's  decision  on  points  of  order.  The 
presiding  officer  shall  appoint  the  chairman 
of  all  committees  ("except  the  committee  of 
publieatJonV  unless  otherwise  ordered  bv  the 
society — eacli  chairman  having  the  right  to 
select  two  members  to  assist  him  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  assigned  the  committee. 


]U 


KESTVCKY     MEDU  'AL     JOrBXAL. 


See.  2.  In  tlie  absence  of  the  President,  the 
A'ice  Preside}its,  aeeordinsr  to  seniority,  shall 
jierform  all  duties  appertaining  to  the  chair; 
Imt  if  neither  be  present,  the  society  shall 
elect  a  President  pro  tern. 

See.  3.  The  RECORDING  SECRETARY 
shall  keen  a  correct  list  of  all  the  members  of 
the  Society,  arranging  the  names  of  tliose  now 
p;'esent  alphabetically,  and  hereafter  accord- 
ing to  theij-  admission.  He  shall  keep  accu- 
rate miimtes  of  all  the  proceedings  of  the  so- 
ciety, including  the  names  of  members  pres- 
ent, and.  from  time  to  time,  transcribe  them 
into  the  record  book  in  a  fair  and  legible  hand. 
He  shall  keep  regular  accounts  with  each  mem- 
l)er  of  the  society,  receive  all  moneys  due  to  it, 
and  pay  them  to  the  Treasurer,  taking  his  re- 
ceipt for  the  same  upon  his  record  book.  Such 
papers  of  the  soeietA-  as  are  not  necessarily 
recorded  he  sliall  preserve  in  distinct  and  reg- 
ular files,  holding  them  always  accessible  to 
the  inspection  of  members.  Whenever  any 
chairman  of  a  committee  is  appointed,  the 
Recording  Secretary  .shall  furnish  him  with  a 
copy  of  the  minute  of  appointment,  together 
with  any  document  that  may  be  essentially 
coujieeted  \vith  the  duties  of  the  Recording 
Secretary  shall  enter  into  a  bond  for  the  trans- 
fer to  the  Treasurer  of  all  moneys  that  may 
come  into  his  hands.  The  society  shall  fix  the 
ii mount  of  the  bon'l.  which  shall  be  made  pay- 
able to  the  society,  and  deposited  in  the  hands 
of  the  Librarian. 

Sec.  4.  The  CORRESPOXDIXG  SFCRE- 
TART  shall  notify  all  members  and  officers 
of  tlieir  election :  he  shall  •n-rite  and  answer 
letters  in  behalf  of  the  society,  aJid  in  general 
mamge  their  distant  correspondence  as  par- 
ticular (exigencies  er  the  resolutions  of  the  so- 
ciety may  require.  He  shall  read  to  the  so 
riety  all  commimications  and  answers  which 
lie  may  have  made  or  received  during  each  re- 
cess, and  then  deliver  them  to  the  Recording 
Secretary  or  the  Librarian,  according  to  their 
several  characters. 

See.  5.  The  TREASURER  shall  receive 
all  moneys  from  the  Recording  Secretary, 
agi'eeably  to  Section  3rd,  of  this  Article,  and 
shall  pay  the  same  to  the  order  of  the  society, 
certified  by  the  President  and  attested  by  the 
Recording  Secretary.  On  the  first  day  of  each 
annual  meeting,  and  oftener  if  recpiired  by  the 
society,  he  shall  render  a  detailed  statement 
of  the  business  of  his  department,  and  shall 
deliver  up  to  his  successor  the  books,  papers, 
mo;ie.v,  or  other  property  of  the  society,  re- 
mahiing  in  his  hands.  For  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  his  duties,  the  Treasurer,  before 
enlering  thertHin,  shall  execute  and  deposit 
ill  the  hands  of  the  Librarian  a  bond  made 
payable  to  the  society,  in  such  amount  as  the 
society-  mav  direct. 

See.  6.  '  The  LIBRARIAN  shall  have  un- 
der his  eiistodv  the  bonds  of  the  Secretaiw  and 


Treasurer,  and  it  .shall  be  his  duty  to  take 
special  charge  of  all  the  books,  essays,  and 
whatever  may  constitute  any  part  of  the  sci- 
entific or  literary  stock  of  the  society.  No 
manuscript  shall  be  moved  from  his  posses- 
sion without  an  order  from  the  society,  except 
ly  the  members  of  the  Committee  of  Publica- 
tion. 

Sec.  7.  It  shall  be  the  dutv  of  the  COil- 
MITTEE  OF  PUBLICATION,  to  select  from 
the  essays  of  the  members,  and  other  coromun- 
ications  made  to  the  society,  such  as  they  may 
Ihink  worthy  of  lieing  published.  Such  select- 
ions as  may  be  made  by  the  committee,  shall. 
\rhen  ordered  bj-  the  society,  be  published 
with  the  minutes  of  the  annual  meeting,  under 
the  title  of  TRANSACTIONS  OF  THE  KEN- 
TUCKY STATE  :\IEDICAL  SOCIETY. 
After  the  publication  of  each,  number  or  vol- 
ume of  the  Transactions,  the  committee  shall 
return  to  the  Librarian  all  papers  belonging 
to  the  societj-. 

ARTICLE  X. 

ST.iNDIXG  COMMITTEES. 

The  following  standing  committees  shall  be 
ajipointed  annually,  viz  :  A  Committee  of  Ar- 
rangements :  on  Medical  Ethics ;  on  Public  Hy- 
giene ;  on  Vital  Statistics :  on  Epidemics :  on 
Obstetrics;  on  Improvements  in  Practical 
^Medicine:  on  Improvements  in  Surgei-y :  on 
Improvements  in  Pharmacy :  on  Indigenous 
Botany  ;  on  Finance  :  on  Publication. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

AMEXDIXG  THE  COXSTITUTIOX. 

Every  proposition  to  amend  this  Constitu- 
tion shall  be  made  in  writing,  and  shall  be 
audibly  read  by  the  Recording  Secretaiy  on 
two  different  days:  when,  if  there  be  no  -dis- 
senting voice,  it  shall  be  declared  adopted :  but 
if  there  be  one  or  more  negatives,  or  if  the 
amendment  be  offered  on  the  last  day  of  the 
session,  it  shall  be  placed  on  file  to  be  read  at 
the  next  annual  meeting:  when,  if  there  be  a 
concurrence  of  th'-ee-fourths  of  the  members 
jiresent.  it  shall  be  incorporated  as  a  part  of 
the  Constitution. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    SECOND   AN- 
NUAL   :\IEETING    OF    THE    STATE 
:\1EDICAL  SOCIETY  OF  KEN- 
TUCKY.* 

The  second  annual  meeting  of  this  Society 
was  held  in  Louisville,  on  the  20th  day  of  Oc- 
ti.ber,  1852,  the  President.  Dr.  W.  L." Sutton, 
in  the  chair. 

The  roll  having  been  called,  a  number  of 
candidates  for  membership  were  proposed. 

After  ti-ansaoting  some  unimportant  busi- 
ness, the  Soeietv  took  a  recess  until  3  o'clock. 


-Reprint  from  the  Medcal  .Ye 


Library.  PhiKidelphia. 


MEDICAL     PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY, 


115 


S:00  o'clock  P.  l\r.— The  Society  met  pur- 
suant to  adjoiii'nment,  the  President  in  the 
chair. 

Forty -five  members  were  elected. 

Dr.  Breckinridge,  on  the  mode  of  proceed- 
ings, reported. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  L.  P.  Yandell,  Drs.  Clapp, 
Leonard,  and  Steele  of  New  Albany,  Ind., 
wei'e  invited  to  take  part  in  the  proceedings. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Raphael,  a  Committee  was 
named  to  draft  a  set  of •  by-laws  for  the  So- 
ciety, to  report  to-morrow. 

Drs.  Raphael,  Dudley,  and  Drane  were  ap 
pointed. 

Dr.  Bell  presented  to  the  Society  a  form  for 
a  Case-Book,  drawn  up  by  the  President, 
which  he  wished  to  refer  to  a  eonimittee  to  re- 
port upon. 

Drs.  Bell,  Poree  and  Chiplev  were  apnoint- 
ed. 

Upon  motion  of  Di-.  Bell,  the  order  of  pro- 
ceedings was  so  far  modified  as  to  permit  Dr. 
('■hipley,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Vital 
Statistics,  to  read  his  report. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Evans,  it  was  received, 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Publication, 

On  motion  of  Dr,  Gross,  the  Society  ad- 
journed to  7  1-2  o'clock, 

NIGHT   SESSION. 

The  Society  met  according  to  ad.jourument, 

Sfive"ral  new  meiii]ers  wei'e  elected. 

Or,  Chipley  nominated  Dr,  Elisha  Bartletl 
of  New  York,  Dr,  Gross  nominated  Dr,  Drake 
of  Cincinnati,  and  Dr.  Yandell  nominated 
Dr.  Deadrick  of.  Tennessee,  as  honorary  niem- 
isers  of  this  Society,  which  nominations  wore 
concurred  in. 

T*r  llillei-  offered  the  following  resolutions, 
which  wei'e  orclerrd  to  be  laid  over  until  to- 
morrow : 

Resolved,  That  the  memliers  of  this  So- 
ciety will  faithfully  comply  with  the  regula- 
tions of  the  registration  law  passed  at  the  last 
session  of  th"  Kentucky  Legislature,  >ii'd  dn 
what  they  can  to  have  it  compla'd  v- ith 
throiighout  the  State. 

On  motion  of  Dr,  Bell,  an  invitation  was 
extended  to  Dr,  Charles  Caldwell,  to  visit  the 
Society  during  its  sittings,  and  participate  in 
its  deliberatiojis. 

The  President.  Dr,  Sutton,  read  his  annual 
address,  which  was  received  and  referretl  to 
the    Committee   on    Pidilication, 

The  Society  then  adjourned  mitil  10  o'clock 
to-morroiw. 

SECnXD    day's    proceedings. 

The  Society  met  and  was  called  to  order  by 
the  President,  the  minutes  of  yesterday  were 
read  and  adopted. 

Dr.  Gross  moved  the  appointment  of  the 
following  committeis,  to  report  at  the  next 
annual  meeting  of  the  Society,  or  as  soon 
thereafter  as  practicable : 


(1)  On 'Medical  Biography,  or  the  lives 
of  meritoi'ioiis  or  distinguished  Ph.ysicians 
and  Surgeons  of  Kentucky. 

(2^  On  ]\Iedical  Literature,  or  the  History 
of  the  ^lediea]  Authorship  of  Kentucky. 

(S"!  On  the  Relations  between  Diseases 
and  peculiar  Geological  Formations. 

(4)  On  the  Statistics  of  Hernia. 

(5)  On  the  Statistics  of  Lithotomy  and 
Calculous  Diseases. 

(6^  On  the  History  and  -Mode  of  Manage- 
ment of  Hospitals,  Asyhnns,  Infirmaries,  Pen- 
itentiaries and  Prisons. 

^7)      On  .Suits  for  ^Malpractice. 

('•S)  On  the  Results  of  Surgical  Operations 
in  ^lalignaut  Diseases. 

(!))      On  Epiilemie  Erysipelas. 

I'lO)      On  Epidemic  Dj'sentery. 

(IT)      On  Typhoid  Fever. 

('[2)     On  Placenta  Previa. 

(13)  On  the  Statistics  of  Remedies  in  Dis- 
eases. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  (xross,  Dr.  Drake,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, was  invited  to  take  part  in  the  de- 
lilierations  of  the  Societ}^ 

Dr.  Tliompson.  on  behalf  of  the  Physicians 
of  Tiouisville,  invited  the  Society  to  partake  of 
a  festal  supper  at  the  Louisville  Hotel,  on  to- 
morrow night. 

The  Society,  on  motion,  proceeded  to  ballot 
for  officers  A  number  of  gentlemen  were  put 
in  nomination,  and  after  several  ballottings, 
Dr.  Chipley.  of  Lexington,  was  elected  Presi- 
dent. 

Dv.  Peter  moved  that  a  Committee  consist- 
ing of  one  member  from  each  county  repre- 
sented, and  one  from  the  City  of  Louisville, 
be  appointed  to  nominate  the  candidates  to 
fill  (he  )-emaining  offices,  which  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Gross  moved  that  the  reports  of  Stand- 
ing Committees  he  m.ade  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  reported  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
first  annual   meeting. 

The  following  committees  failed  to  make 
tlieir  annual  i-eports,  viz  : 

The  Committee  on  Arrangements,  the  Com- 
mittee on  Practical  IMedicine,  the  Committee 
on  Improvements  in  Pharmacy,  and  the  Coni- 
mittee  on  Public  Hygiene. 

Dr.  Evans,  Chairman  of  the  Comvaittee  on 
J-Ithics,  read  his  report,  which  was  received 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Piiblication. 

The  Soeietv  then  adjourned  to  3  o'clock 
P.  M. 

evi5n:ng  session. 

The  Society  met  according  to  adjournment 
and  was  called  to  order  by  the  President. 

The  Nominating  Committee  made  the  fol- 
lowing report: 

They  nominate  the  following  gentlemen  to 
fill  the  offices  attached  to  their  names.  For 
Senior  Vice-President,  Dr.  E.  C.  Drane,  of 
New   Castle ;    for   Junior- Vice-President,    Dr. 


atJ 


KEXTUCKT    MEDICAL     JOJ'RSAL. 


A.  Evans,  of  Covington  ;  for  Recording  Seere- 
Uwy,  Dr.  Sncecl,  of  Frankfort:  for  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  Dr.  Breckinridge,  of 
Ijouisville:  for  Librarian,  Dr.  B.  Monroe,  of 
i-'i'ankfort :  on  Publications,  Drs.  Bell,  Ron- 
ald and  Foree  of  Louisville:  the  report  was 
received  and  Committee  discharged. 

The  Society  then  proceeded  to  ballot  for 
Senioi'-Vice-President.  Dr.  Drane  having  re- 
ceived a  majority  of  all  the  votes  east,  was  de- 
clared duly  elected;  Dr.  Knight,  was  elected 
Junior- Yice-President :  Dr.  Sneed,  Recording 
Secretary:  Dr.  Breckinridge,  Corresponding 
Secretary ;  B.  ]\rouroe.  Librarian :  and  Drs. 
Bell.  Foree  and  Ronald,  the  Publication  Com- 
mittee. 

Dr.  ^liller,  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
(in  Obstetrics,  then  read  his  annual  report, 
Mhicli  was  received  and  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Publication. 

J)r.  Sutton,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Registration,  read  his  annual  report,  which 
was  received  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Publication. 

The  Society  then  adjourned  to  half-past 
seven,  P.  M. 

73  ^  o'clock  P.  M. 

The  Society  met  according  to  adjournment, 
after  being  called  to  order  by  the  President, 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  members. 

Dr.  Wible  offered  the  following  preamble 
and  resolution  which  was  adopted: 

Whereas.  Physicians  are  frequently  called 
on  to  give  evidence  in  Courts  of  justice,  to 
make  post-mortem  examinations,  and  institute 
investigations  in  cases  of  poisoning,  sei-\T.ces 
of  a  strictly  professional  character,  requiring 
expense,  time  and  labour  on  the  part  of  the 
pViysieian ;  and.  whereas,  these  services  are  of- 
ten of  great  iranortanee  to  the  welfare  of  so- 
ciety, and  as  physicians  ought  not  to  be  ex 
peeted  to  perform  these  A^ithout  remunera- 
tioJi.  it  is  ■lhe  opinion  of  the  Kentuckv  State 
^Fedieal  Society,  that  the  interests  of  human 
ity  demand  that  laws  be  enacted  which  will 
properly  secure  these  services  when  recjuir- 
ed  by  coroners,  and  other  officei-s  of  the  law. 

Therefore,  it  is  resolved  that  a  committee  of 
three  be  appointed  to  prepare  a  report  to  be 
read  at  the  next  annual  meeting  of  this  So- 
city,  on  the  subject  presented  in  the  forego- 
ing preamble. 

Dr.  Darby.  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Epidemics,  read  the  annual  report,  which  was 
received  and  properly  referred. 

This  Society,  by  a  vote,  decided  upon  Lex- 
ington as  the  place  for  holding  the  next  an- 
nual meeting.  The  Society  then  adjourned 
til  to  morrow  morning  at  10  o'clock. 

THIRD   day's  PROCEEDIXGS. 

The  Society  met  at  10  o'clock  A.  'SI.,  and 
AVPs  called  to  order  bv  the  President, 


Dr.  Gross's  resolutions,  offered  yesterday, 
were  brought  up  and  adopted. 

A  set  of  by-laws  was  adopted. 

Dr.  Gross,  Chairman  on  Improvements  in 
Surgery,  made  his  annual  report,  which  was 
ri'oeived  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Publication. 

Dr.  Spillman,  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Improvements  in  Pharmacy,  also  reported 
which  report  was  referred  to  the  same  Coni- 
inittee. 

Dr.  Spillman,  in  connection  with  the  above 
r<'i"jort,  offered  the  following  resolutions,  Avhich 
Were  adopted : 

Resolved.  That  this  Society  regard  the  cul- 
tivation of  our  own  botany  as  essential  to  a 
full  development  of  onr  professional  resources, 
and  to  a  more  successful  practice  of  our  art. 

Resolved,  That  the  profession  throughout 
lhe  State,  and  the  members  of  this  Soe!et\' 
particularly,  he  requested  to  give  special  at- 
tention to  this  .subject,  and,  by  cultivating 
the  field  of  observation  and  research,  in  con- 
nection with  the  unexplored  regions  of  vege- 
table nature  within  our  own  limits,  ascertain 
to  what  extent  the  demand  of  the  healing  art 
can  be  supplied  at  home. 

Resolved,  That  any  physician  discovering  a 
new  remedy,  or  a  new  property  in  one  already 
known,  or  any  information  touching  the  med 
ical  botany  of  our  State,  that  can  be  render- 
ed practically  available,  be  requested  to  com- 
municate such  information  to  the  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Indigenous  Botany. 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Publica- 
tion, at  as  early  a  date  as  practicable,  by  a 
brief  circular  or  otherwise,  communicate  the 
objects  embraced  in  these  resolutions  to  the 
in-ofession  tlu-oughout  the  State,  giving  the 
nni.oe  and  location  of  the  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Indigenous  Botany,  and  earn- 
estly requesting  contributions. 

The  Pj-esident  announced  the  followiusr 
Standing  Committees: 

Committee  on  Arrangements,  Dr.  Darby, 
cf  Lexington. 

Committee  on  Practical  ^ledicine.  Dr. 
Foi'ce,  of  Louisville. 

Committee  on  Pharmacy.  Dr.  Silliman.  of 
LouisAulle. 

Committee  on  Vital  Statistics.  Dr.  Sutton, 
of  '.leorgetown. 

Coiujnittee  on  Obstetrics,  Dr.  Powell,  of 
Louisville. 

I'ommittee  on  "Medical  Ethics.  Dr.  Hewett, 
of  Louisville. 

Committee  on  Public  Hygiene.  Dr.  Bell,  of 
Lo.iisville. 

Committee  on  Epidemics.  Dr.  Bullitt,  of 
Louisville. 

(Committee  on  Surgerv,  Dr.  Flint,  of  Louis- 
ville. 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL'S     OF    KENTUCKY, 


117 


Coramittee  on  Indigenous  Botany,  Dr.  Em- 
uu'tt,  of  Piko  County. 

Commitlee  on  Finance,  Dr.  Letcher,  of  Jes- 
samine county,  and  also  the  following  special 
coi.imittees: 

1.  On  Medical  Biography,  or  the  lives  of 
meritorious  or  distinguished  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  Kentucky,  Dr.  Breckinridge,  of 
Louisville. 

2.  On  Medical  Literature,  or  the  History, 
of  the  Medical  J^uthorship  of  Kentucky,  Prof. 
L.  P.  Yandell,  of  Louisville. 

3.  On  the  relation  between  diseases  and 
I>artieular  Geological  Formations,  Dr.  Peter, 
of  Lexington. 

4.  On  the  Statistics  of  Hernia,  Dr.  S.  B. 
Richardson,  of  Louisville. 

5.  On  the  Statistics  of  Lithotomy  and  Cal- 
culous Diseases,  Dr.  Gross,  of  Louisville. 

5.  On  the  History  and  Mode  of  Manage- 
ment of  Hospitals,  Dr.  Raphael,  of  Louisville  ; 
of  Penitentiaries  and  Prisons,  Dr.  W.  C. 
.Sneed.  of  Frankfort. 

7.  On  Suits  for  :\ral-Practice,  Dr.  Spill- 
man,  of  Harrodsburg. 

■S.  On  the  Results  of  Surgical  Operations 
in  Malignant  Diseases,  Dr.  Colescott,  of  Lou- 
isville. 

9.  On  Epidemic  Erysipelas,  Dr.  Owens,  of 
Henry  Coiiuty. 

10.  On  Epidemic  Dysentery,  Dr.  Pry,  of 
Louisville. 

12.  On  Placenta  Previa,  Dr.  ]\Tiller,  of 
Louisville. 

13.  On  the  Statistics  of  Remedies  in  Dis 
ease.  Dr.  Lewis  Rogers,  of  Louisville. 

Dr.  Sutton  offered  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  adopted,  and  the  same,  with  Dr. 
Wibel's  resolution  of  .yesterday,  were  referred 
to  a  special  committee.  Dr.  ^yibel,  Chairman, 
with  the  privilege  of  adding  such  other  mem- 
bers as  he  may  wish : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed 
to  consider  whether  any,  and  if  any,  what 
lueasures  can  be  brought  into  requisition  to 
lesson  the  heavy  burden  of  pauper  practice, 
and  report  at  the  next  annual  meeting  of  this 
Society. 

Dr.  Thompson,  Chairman  of  Committee  on 
Finance,  presented  a  report. 

l")r.  Bell.  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Case 
Book,  made  a  report,  which  was  received  and 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Publication. 

The  Society  elected  the  following  gentlemen 
as  delegates  to  the  National  Medical  Society. 

Dr.  "W.  S.  Chipley,  of  Lexington ;  Dr.  Free- 
man, of  Oldham  County;  Dr.  W.  C.  Sneed,  ol 
Frankfort :  Dr.  B.  J.  Raphael,  of  Louisville ; 
i:»r.  T.  J.  Moore,  of  Harrodsburg ;  Dr.  Wibel, 
of  Ijouisville :  Dr.  John  Hardin,  of  Louisville, 
and  Dr.  Hewett,  of  Louisville. 

The  Society  then  went  into  the  election  of 
Honorary  iMembers,  when  the  following  gen- 
tlemen  were  unanimously   elected:     Dr.   D. 


Drake,  of  Cincinnati ;  Dr.  Deadrick,  of  Ten- 
nessee, and  Dr.  Elisha  Bartlett,  of  New  York. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Jacobs,  the  follo'wing  reso- 
lution was  unanimously  adopted: 

Resolved.  That  the  thanks  of  this  Society 
be  tendered  the  officers  for  the  faithful,  aible 
and  impartial  manner  in  which  the.y  have  dis- 
charged their  respective  duties. 

And  then  the  Society  adjourned. 
W.  S.  Chipley,  President. 
"W.  G.  Sneed.  Rec.  Secretary. 

The  above  is  a  true  copy  of  an  article  pub- 
lished in  the  number  of  "The  Medical  News 
and  Library,"  January,  1853.    S.  G.  Fulton. 


ROSTER   OF   THE   MEMBERS    OF   THE 

KENTUCKY  STATE  MEDICAL 

SOCIETY  IN  1856.* 

Anderson,  N.  B.  Louisville. 
Abell,  S.  R.,  Hardinsburg. 
Allen,  A.  S.,  Winchester. 
Ayres.  D.  J.,  Lexingrton, 
Allen,  John  R.,  Lexington. 
Annan,  S.,  Lexington. 
Black,  E.  H..  Scott  County. 
Breckinridge,  R.  J.,  Louisville. 
Bruce.  C.  D.,  Lexington. 
Bell,  T.  S.,  Louisville. 
Bullitt,  H.  M..  Louisville. 
Bartlett,  John,  Louisville. 
Brown,  E.  0.,  Brandenburg. 
Bright,  J.  W.,  Louisville. 
Broadwell,   S.  E.,   C.ynthiana. 
Bradford.  J.  T.,  Augusta. 
Bush,  J.  il..  Lexington. 
Beraiss,  Samuel  M.,  Louisville. 
Bryson,  CD.,  Kenton  County. 
Blackburn,  C.  J.,  Covington. 
Barbour.  J.  H..  Pendleton  County. 
Craig,  Henry.  Georgetown. 
Chipley,  W.  S.,  Lexington. 
Chambers,  W.  M.,  Covingt.on. 
Caldwell,  "W.  B.,  Louisville. 
Chenoworth.  H.,  Louisville. 
Cromwell,  W.  B.,  Lexington. 
Conway,  G.  W.,  Yelvington. 
Cummins,  David,  Louisville. 
Colescott.  W.  H.,  Louisville. 
Cochran,  P.  H.,  Louisville. 
Chinn,  J.  G.,  Lexington. 
Craig,  J.,  Stanford. 

Curran, ,  Kenton  Count3^ 

Dudley,  J.,  Nicholasville. 
Darby.  John  C,  Lexington. 
Durritt,  R.,  Louisville. 
Drane.  J.  S.,  New  Castle. 
Dunhoff,  John.  Louisville. 
Dudley,  E.  L.,  Lexington. 
Darnaby,  B.  M.,  Fayette  County. 
Duke,  J.M.,  Maysville. 
Drake,  B.  P.,  Lexington. 

^?so  one  of  these  men  liviii.?. 


n.8 


KENTUCKY    MEDiCAL    JOl'RXAL. 


Diil.nicy.  J.  J.,  Covington. 

Downard,  L.,  Kenton  Connty. 

]']vans,  Asbury,  Covington. 

Evans,  W.  R.,  -Nfercer  County. 

Ewing.  T^.  E.,  Louisville. 

Emmert.  J.  W.,  Pikeville. 

Flint,  Joshua  T5.,  Louisville. 

Foree,  E.  D.,  Jefferson  County. 

Freeman,  U.  L.,  Ballardsville. 

j'>y,  (/.  H.,  United  States  Army. 

Forsj'th,  H.,  Louisville. 

Foster.  J.  0.  A.,  Newport. 

Poss,  S.  A..'  Jefferson  County. 

Gross,  Samuel  D.,  Louis\'ille. 

Core,  Joslma,  Bullitt  County. 

Gtrant,  E.  L..  Pendleton  County. 

Gazley,  L.  E.,  Henry  County. 

GiveiLS,  H.  L.,  Oldham  County. 

Harrison,  (xeorgo  B.,  Fayette  County. 

Hodges.  Tj.  Y.,  Franklin  Countv. 

Hew'itt.  P.  C.  Louisville. 

Hopson,  H.,  Jefferson   Connty. 

Hunter,  S.  V..  Hawesville. 

Hundley  W.  A.,  Louisville. 

Hardin.  John,  Louisville. 

Plall,  S.  N.,  Louisville. 

Hynes,  B.,  Bardstown. 

Hawkins,  J.  H.,  Harrison  County. 

Hunt,  R.  H..  Covington. 

Holt,  W.  D.,  Covington. 

Hughes,  J.  N.,  Louisville. 

Ingles,  Edward,  Paris. 

Jaeohs,  W.  Tt..  Louisville. 

Jones.  R.  ^L,  Lexington. 

Johns.  A.  H..  Kenton. 

Jenkins,  H.  D..  Lexington. 

Knapp,  Jas..  Tjouisville 

Knight,  J.  W..  T.ouisville. 

Kirkpatrick.  John,  C.vnthiana. 

Keller,  David,  Jeffer.son  County. 

Letcher,  J.  P.,  Nicholasville, 

Lyle,  C.  L.,  Louisville. 

Lewis, .,  Jefferson  Connty. 

Lee,  E.  Y.,  CoAnngton. 

Long,  E.  T.,  Henrv  County. 

Letcher.  Samuel,  Tjexington. 

Miller,  Henry.  Louisville. 

]\riller,  W.  H..  Louisville, 

Amis,  J.  Ar„  Frankfort. 

^lonroe,  Ben,,  Frankfort, 

^loore.  T,  J..  Hari-odslnirg. 

Aletealfe,  J.  C.  Louisville. 

Aleriwether.  H.  C,  Louisville. 

Aliller,  John  T. 

.Morris,  "W.P.,  Daviess  County. 

Mattingly.  C.  P..  Bardstown! 

Afartin.  JT.  D.,  Paris. 

Ala.ior,  Fr,.  Covington. 

AleCrearv,  J.  C„  Simpson  County. 

Montgomery,  .W.  C'.,  Lincoln  Comity. 

ArcCauley,  W.  D.,  Louisville. 

Owen,  W.  T.,  Louisville. 


\o  on"  of  the=c 


Owen,  L.  F.,  New  Ca.stle. 

Owen,  S.  R.,  Somerset. 

O'Rilev.  Dennis.  Louisville. 

Phythian,  C.  G.,  Frankfort. 

Powell.  L.,  Louisville. 

P.vles,  N.  Louisxille. 

Pirtle,  C,  Louisville. 

Peter,  Robert,  Lexington. 

Price,  J.  G.,  Franklin  County. 

Patterson,  A.  A.,  Fayette  County. 

Pilkinton.  S.  C,  Lexington. 

Pi'itlow,  R.,  Covington, 

J'ei'riue.  H..  Lexiuglon. 

Poliii,  Francis  E.,  Springfield, 

Powell.  W.  J.,  fiercer  County. 

Richardson.  T.  G.,  Louisville. 

Rogers,  Lewis,  Louisville. 

Ronnald.  G.  W.,  Louisville. 

I'oss,  John  0..  Louisville. 

Rudd,  R.  H..  Louisville. 

Richardson.  S.  B  ,  Louisville. 

Rodman.  H„  Frankfort. 

Roberts,  J,  G.,  Frankfort, 

Ray,  L.  G..  Paris. 

Raphiel,  B.  J.,  Louisville, 

Riffe,  J.  M.  Winchester. 

Rankin,  Paul,  Georgetown. 

Ray,  J.  D.,  Paris. 

Richardson.  Edw'd..  Kenton  County. 

Reddiek,  P.  L.,  Newport. 

Ridley,  J,  0„  Louisville. 

Sntton.  W.  L..  Georsetowu. 

Snecd,  W.  C,  Frankfort. 

Swain,  John,  Ballardsville. 

Spillmau,  C.  H.,  Harrodsbure. 

Slauu-hter,  D.  L.,  Shelbyville, 

Sale,  T.  J,.  Louisville, 

Sliced,  John  J.,  Louisrille, 

Silliman,  B.,  Jr..  Louisville. 

Smith,   Joseph,   Danville. 

Smith,  C,  Richmond, 

Smith.  W.  0.,  Colemansville, 

Saunders,  Th.,  Shelbyville. 

Singleton, ..  Jessamine  County. 

Sloan,  W.  J,.  Newport, 

Singleton.  J.  W.,  Paducah. 

Shaler.  N.  B.,  Newport. 

Sentenay,  W.  W.,  ,Tefferson  County. 

Southg.ate,  B.  W.,"  Kenton  County! 

Smith,  "W",  C„  Harrison  County, 

Sehue,  A..  Shelb>Tille, 

Smith,  J.  L,,  Louisville, 

Smith,  J,  F„  Covington, 

Scott,  S,  S  ,  Kenton  County. 

Tyler,  G.  B.,  Owensboro. 

Thornbury.  P..  Louisville. 

'rimm,  AFaTideville. 

Thu.'u,  G.  W.,  Louisville. 

Tinsley,  J.  J.,  Louisville. 

Thom.son,  D,  D,,  Louisville, 

Trabue,  B.  F.,  Glasgow, 

Tingle,  J. 

Thornton,  G.  "W..  Newport. 

Tibbelts,  "\Y.,  Covington. 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OP     KENTUCKY. 


119 


VVinston,  J.  D.,  Georgetown. 
Watson,  E,  H.,  Frankfort. 
VVhitlev.  -J.  J.,  Lexin^'ton. 
White, 'E.  p.,  JVIoimt  Sterling. 
Wible,  B.  M.,  Louisville. 
Wethorford,  E.  D,.  Louisville. 
Waj',  J.  C,  Louisville. 
V¥ise,  T.  J.,  Covington. 
Wise,  T.  N.,  Covington. 
Walton.  C.  J.,  Hart  County. 
Vandell,  L.  P.  Sr..  Louisville. 
Yandell.  D.  W.,  Louisville. 

No  oue  of  these  men  living. 


A    SELP-EXPLAN.4T0RY    COMMUNICA- 
TION FROM  THE  PRESIDENT  OF 
THE  STATE  SOCIETY*. 

Frantfoi't,  Ky.,  December,  1856. 

To  ike  Mcnihera  o^  the  Kentiickij  State  Med- 
ical Society : 

While  acting  in  the  capacity  of  Secretary 
for  three  years,  and  since  my  promotion  to  the 
office  of  President  of  your  society,  I  have  re- 
ceived numerous  communications  from  mem- 
bers and  from  phy.sieians  not  members,  who 
feel  some  interest  in  the  permanent  success 
of  the  enterprise,  making  inquiries  as  to  when 
the  transactions  of  the  several  meetings,  not 
published,  would  be  given  to  the  public.  To 
all  these  inquiries.  I  have  been  compelled  to 
give  an  indefinite  and  unsatisfactory  answer. 
It  is  well  kno'wn  to  most  of  you,  that  valuable 
and  interesting  reports  were  made  at  the  an- 
imal sessions  held  in  1853-54,  which  have  not 
been  published  for  want  of  funds  to  pay  the 
expense  of  printing  them.  This  has  resulted 
riiainly  from  a  want  of  promptness  on  the 
part  of  the  members  in  sending  up  their  an- 
nual assessments,  which,  had  they  been  for- 
■^varded,  'wonld  have  been  amply  sufficient  to 
enable  the  committee  on  publications,  to  have 
had  the  transactions  promptly  printed  and 
distributed.  The  last  annual  meeting  was 
held  during  the  inclement  weather  of  Febru- 
ary, and  the  number  present,  though  respect- 
able, was  not  as  large  as  at  the  fo]-m.er  meet- 
ings. No  definite  arrangements  were  made 
for  publishing  the  transactions  of  that  meet- 
ing, and  the  reports  were  left  in  my  hands  to 
be  disiposed  of  in  such  way  as  might  seem  best. 
I  have,  with  the  advice  of  some  of  the  mem- 
(■ers,  ventured  to  have  the  transactions  of  thai 
meeting  published,  mainly  upon  my  OAvn  re- 
sponsibility. There  being  a  balance  in  the 
Treasury  belonging  to  the  Society,  I  have  ap- 
propriated it  in  part  payment,  for  printing 
these  transactions. 


The  transactions  herein  published,  are  cred- 
itable to  the  Society,  and  too  valuable  to  be 
lost.  Those  of  former  meetings  to  the  promo- 
tion of  so  laudable  a  cause.  By  reference  to 
the  list  of  members  appended,  it  will  be  seen 
tliat  an  annual  contribution  of  $3  each,  would 
be  amply  sufficient  to  publish  the  transactions 
of  each  annual  meeting,  and  would  furnish 
each  member  with  a  volume,  worth  more  than 
his  assessment.  The  transactions  not  publish- 
ed are, 

For  the  Session  of  1853  : 

Annual  address  by  the  President,  Dr. 
Chipley. 

Report  on  Surgei-y — Prof  J.  B.  Flint, 
iledieal  Biographj' — Dr.  L.  P.  Yandell. 
Statistic^  of  Hernia— Dr.  S.  B.  Richard- 
son. 

Epidemic  Erysipelas — Dr.  L.  F.  Owens. 
(^n  the  relation  between  Diseases  and  Par- 
ticular Ceologica!  Formations — Dr.  Peter. 
Vital  Statistics— Dr.  W.  L.  Sutton. 
History  of  Prisons  and  Penitentiaries— 
Dr.  W.  C.  Sneed. 

On  Public  Hygiene— Dr.  T.  S.  Bell, 
aiedical  Ethics— Dr.  W.  S.  Cliipley. 
On  Medical  Grievances  in  Courts  of  Jus- 
tice—Dr.  B.  M.  Wible.     ' 
TJiose  of  the  Session  of  1854,  are: 

The  Address  of  the  President — Dr.  Gross. 
On  Suits  for  Malpractice — Dr.  C.  H. 
Spillman. 

On  the  Use  of  Tlold  Water  as  a  Thera- 
peutic Agent — Dr.  J.  C.  Darb.y. 
On  the  Treatment  of  Typhoid  Fever — Dr. 
Joseph  Smith. 

These  reports  would  make  a  large  and  valu- 
able volume,  tilled  with  matter  not  to  be  had 
in  any  other  waj'.  To  publish  them,  will  re- 
Cfuire  onl}'  a  small  sum  froni  each  memher  of 
the  Society,  and  if  each  one  will  respond 
promptly,  these  valuable  reports  may  be  in 
tlieir  hands  long  before  the  next  annual  meet- 
ing. 

Hoping  that  what  I  have  done  will  meet 
with  your  cordial  approbation,  and  that  you 
will  respond  promptly  to  my  suggestions,  and 
aid  me  to  have  all  the  transactions  of  the  So- 
ciety published  at  an  early  day. 
I  remain  yoiirs,  &c., 

W.  C.  Sneed, 

President  Kentucky  State  Medical  Society. 


J  20 


KEXTUCKT    MEDICAL     JOVRKAL. 


XA:\rES  AND  RESIDENCES  OF  THE  PRESIDENTS  AND  SECRETARIES,   WITH 

THE  PLACES  AND  DATES  OF  :\rEETJNGS    OF    THE    STATE  MEDICAL 

SOCIETY  OF  KENTUCKY,  FRO.M  1851  TO  1917\ 


YEAR 

NAME 

ADDRESS 

PLACE  OF  MEETING 

1S51 

President- 
Seoretary- 

-William  L.  Sutron* 
-AV.  C.  Sneed,* 

Georgetown 
Frankfort 

Fi-aukfort 

1852 

Pi-esident- 
Seeretery- 

-William  L.  Sutton.* 
-W.  0.  Sneed,^ 

l:ieorgeto\vn 
T'rankfort 

Louisville 

185;} 

Prpsident- 
Secrctary- 

-William  S.  Chiplev,* 
-W.  G.  Sneed,* 

Lexington 
Frankfort 

Lexington 

lcS54 

President^ 
Secretary- 

-Samuel  D.  Gross,* 
-W.  C.  Sneed.* 

liOuis^ille 
Frankfort 

Co^-ington 

1856 

Presidont- 
Seerelary- 

-C.  H.  Spillmau^,* 
-W.  C.  Sneed.* 

Harrodsburg 
Frankfort 

Frankfort 

jS57 

President- 
Soeretarj- 

-W.  C.  Sneed.* 
-Tobias  G.  Richardson,* 

Frankfort 
Louisville 

LouLS^-ille 

jcS58 

President- 
Socretaj-y- 

-W.T.  Owen,* 

-Tobias  G.  Richardson,* 

Ivouisville 
Louisville. 

Louisville 

1850 

President- 
Seerelary- 

-Joshua  B.  FUnt,* 
-Samuel  11.  Beniiss.* 

Louisville 
1/ouisviile. 

Lebanon 

1S68 

President- 
Secretary- 

-D.  N.  Porter,* 
-Preston  B.  Scott,* 

Eminence 
LouisA-ille. 

Danville 

1SG9 

I'resident- 

Secretary- 

-William  Pawling.* 
-Stanhope  P.  Breckinridsre. 

Danville, 
*DauvilIe 

liexington 

ISTO 

President- 

Seeretary- 

-Henrv  :\I.  Skilbnan%* 
-M.  E.  Poynter,* 

Lexington 
.Midway 

Bowling  Green 

1S71 

President- 
Seeretary- 

-William  A.  Atchison.* 
-John  D.  Jackson.* 

Bowling  Green 
Danville 

Co\nngton 

1872 

Pressident- 
Seeretai-y- 

-T.  N.  Wise.* 
-William  B.  Rodman.* 
C.  F.  n^ieh^* 

Covington 
Frankfort 
Louisville 

Louisville 

1S73 

President- 
Seeretian- 

-Lewis  Rogei-s,* 
— ]    A.  Larribee,* 

Louisville 
liouisville 

Paducah 

1874 

Presideut- 
Sccretar>'- 

-J.  AY.  Thompson,* 
-J.  A.  Larribee,* 

Paducah 
Louisville 

Shelbj^^ille 

1S75 

President — Jerman  Baker,* 
Secietai-y — -T.  A.  I.arribee,* 

Shelbjn-ille 
Louisville 

Henderson 

1876 

President- 
Ser-rfttarv- 

-J.  A.  Hodge,*      . 
-J.  W.  Singleton,* 

Henderson 
Paducah 

Hopkinsville 

1877 

Pi'csideijt- 
Seeretary- 

-R.  W.  Gaines,* 
—James  H.  Letcher, 

Hopkinsville 
Henderson 

Louisville 

•Dead. 

1.  This  title  was  changed  to  "The  Kentucky  State  Medical  Association"  in  1903. 

2.  The  mintites  of  the  meeting  in  1835  were  not  published  or  preserved,  and,  while  the  tradition  is  that  regular  meet- 
ings were  held  from  1859  to  1867,  except  for  two  or  three  years  during  the  Civil  War.  a  diligent  search  of  over  a  year 
has  failed  to  find  a  face  of  the  minutes  or   about  the  officers  or  places  and   dates  of  meeting. 

3.  On  account  of  serious  illness.  Dr.  Skillman  could  not  attend  the  meeting  and  the  Senior  Vice-President,  Dr.  .\tchi- 
son,   presided  and  was  elected  President  for  the  succeeding  term. 

4.  Dr.  Rodman  did  not  attend  the  meeting  and  Dr.  TJirich  was  elected  Secretary  pro  tempore  and  served  for  the 
entire  meeting. 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY, 


121 


YEAR 

NAME 

ADDRESS 

PLACE  OF  MEETING 

1S78 

Presidrnl- 
Seeretary- 

-Lunsford  P.  Yandell,  Sv., 

•John  L.  Dismnkes^* 
—James  H.  Letcher, 

,'■''  Louisville 
Mayfield 
Henderson 

Frankfort 

ISvO 

President- 
Secretary- 

-Charles  H.  Todd,* 
—James  H.  Letcher, 

Owenshoro 
Henderson 

Danville 

1.^80 

Prcsident- 
Seeretary- 

-R.  W.  Bunlap,* 
-Arch  Dixon, 

Danville 
Henderson 

Lexington 

]S31 

Pr.-sident- 
Secretary- 

-Lyman  Heecher  Todd,* 
—Lewis  S.  McMurtry, 

Lexington 
Danville 

Covington 

1S82 

President- 
Secretary- 

-James  W.  Holland, 
-Lewis  S.  MeMurtry, 

Louisville 
Danville 

Louisville 

;:S83 

President- 
Seeretary- 

-  \iicil  D    Price,* 
-Lewis  S.  JMcMurtry, 

Harrodsburg 
Danville 

Louisville 

1884 

President- 
Secretary- 

-J.  N.   McCormack; 
-Samuel  M.  Letcher.* 

Bowling  Green 
Kichmond 

Bowling  Green 

1,884 

President- 
Seoretary- 

-Pinckney   Thompson,* 
-Samnel  M.  Letcher,* 

Henderson 
Ivichmond 

Crab  Orchard 

1886 

President- 
Secretary- 

-Joseph  P,  Thomas,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Pemliroke 
Slanford 

Winchester 

1887 

T'resident- 
Secretary- 

-William  IL  Wathen,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Louisville 
Stanford 

Paducah 

1888 

Prosident- 
Seeretary- 

-John  G.  Brooks,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Paducah 
Stanford 

Crab  Orchard 

1889 

President- 
Secretary- 

-Lewis  S.  McMurtry, 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Louisville 
Stanford 

Richmond 

1890 

President- 

Seeretarj'- 

-Jolm   A.    Ouchterlony,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Louisville 
Stanford 

Henderson 

1891 

President- 
Secretary- 

-George  B-eeler,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Clinton 
Stanford 

Lexington 

1892 

President- 
Seeretary- 

-Hawkins  Brown.* 
-Steele  Bailej^, 

Houstonville 
Stanford 

Louisville 

1893 

President- 
Secretary- 

-Arch  Dixon, 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Henderson 
Stanford 

Frankfort 

1894: 

President- 
Seeretary- 

-J.  Q.  A.  Stewart,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

P'rankfort 
Stanford 

Shelbyville 

1895 

President- 

Secretary- 

-Joseph  B.  Marvin,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Louisville 
Slanford 

Harrodsburg 

1896 

President- 
Secretary- 

-John  A.  Lewis, 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Georgetown 
Stanford 

Lebanon 

1897 

President- 

Secretary- 

-Kobert  C.  MeChord, 
-Steele  Bailey,   . 

Ijebanon 
Stanford 

Owensboro 

1898 

President— 
Secretary- 

-Joseph  M.  Mathews, 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Louisville 
Stanford 

JIaysville 

1899 

President- 

Secretary- 

-David  Barroiw, 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Lexington 
Stanford 

Louisville 

1900 

President- 
Secretary- 

-William  Bailey,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Louisville 
Stanford 

Georgetown 

On  account  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Yaudell,  the  Senior  Yicfe-President,   In-.   DismuVes,    succeeded  to  the   Presidenc 


V22 


KKSTUCKY     MKDK'AL     jOl'l.'XAL. 


YEAR 

NAME 

ADDRESS 

PLACE   OF  MEETING 

1!H)1 

President- 
Secretary - 

-Jaraes  H.  Letcher. 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Henderson 
St  anf  ord 

Louisville 

1W2 

President- 
Seeretary- 

-T.  B.  Greenley,* 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Meadow  Lawn 
S1  an  ford 

Paducah 

v.nr.i 

President- 
Seeretarj''- 

-William  W.  Richmond, 
-Steele  Bailey, 

Clinton 
Stanford 

Louisville 

1904 

President- 
Secretary- 

-Steele  Bailey. 
-James  B.  Bullitt. 

Stanford 
liouisville 

Lexington 

VM)5 

"President^ 
Secretary- 

-Frank  H.  Clarke, 
-James  B.  Bullitt, 

Licxiiigton 
Louisville 

Loui-sville 

11)06 

President- 
Secretary- 

-Charles  Z.  Aud, 
-James  B.  Bullitt, 

(.'eeilian 
Loui.sville 

Oweusboro 

ifioy 

President- 
Secretary- 

-Daniel  M.  Griffith, 
-Arthur  T.  IMeCormaek,  ' 

Oweusboro 
J^owling  Green 

Louisville 

:I908 

PT-i'sident- 
Seeretary- 

-Jo)m  C.  Cecil,* 
-Arthur  T.  MeCormack, 

Louisville 
P.owling  Creen 

Winchester 

39U9 

President- 
Seeretary- 

-Isaac  A.  Shii'ley, 
-Arthur  T.  MeCormack, 

Wiii  Chester 
Bowling  Green 

Louisville 

1910 

President- 
Seeretary- 

-Joseph  E.  Wells, 
—Arthur  T.  MeCormack, 

(.'ynthiana 
Bowling  Green 

Lexington 

1911 

Presideiit- 
Seeretar}'-- 

-James  CI.  Carpenter, 
—Arthur  T.  ileCormack, 

Stanford 
Bowling  Green 

Paducah 

1912 

Presideiit- 
Secretary- 

-David  0.  Hancock,* 
-Arthur  T.  MeCormack, 

Henderson 
Bowling  Green 

Louisville 

1913 

President- 
Secretary- 

-William  0.  Roberts, 
-Arthur  T.  MeCormack, 

Louisville 
liowling  Green 

Bowling  Green 

l:-)]4 

Prcsidont- 
Secretary- 

-Ja<.nes  W.  Ellis,^ 
John  J.  iloren, 
-Arthur  T.  MeCormack, 

ilasouville 
Louisville 
Bowling  Green 

Newport 

1915- 

Presidcnt- 
Secretary- 

-James  W.  Kincaid, 
—Arthur  T.  MeCormack, 

Catlettsburg 
Bowling  Green 

Loui.sville 

1916 

President- 
Secreta)-y- 

-Ap.  Morgan  Vance,-* 
Milton  Board, 
-Arthur  T.  MeCormack. 

Louisville 
Louisville 
Bowling  Green 

Hopkinsville 

1917 

President- 
Secretary-- 

-Phillip  H.  Stewart, 
-Arthur  T.  ]\IcCormack, 

Paducah 
I'iowling  Green 

Louisville 

commendation  of  the  Council,   Dr.  Moren 


>D(!ad. 

1.      Dr.  Ellis  was  nnalile  to  attend  tlie  meeting,   and,  upon 
l.v  elected  President. 

ii.      Dr.  Vance  died  December  9,    1915,   and  upon  recommendation  of  the  Council    Dr.  Board  was  unanimously  elected 
President. 


MEDICAL    PIONEEh'S     OF    KENTUCKY. 


123 


FACTS  AND  REMTNISCBNCBS  OF  THE 
ilEDTCAL  HISTORY  OF  KEN- 
TUCKY.* 

By  Lewis  Rogers,  M.  D.,  Louisville. 

Oentlemen  of  the  Society : 

1  esteem  it  a  very  great  honor  to  be  the  pre- 
siding officer  of  the  Kentucky  State  Medical 
Society,  an  association  composed  of  members, 
past  and  present,  many  of  whose  names  arc 
among  the  most  distinguished  of  this  country. 
1  deem  myself  specially  fortunate   in  being 


varied  observations  and  study  to  the  common 
stock.  I  am  sure  that  I  shall  not  be  mistaken 
ill  the  expectation  that  this  meeting  in  Pa- 
diieah  will  add  greatly  to  the  future  useful- 
ness of  the  Society  by  enlisting  new  and  zeal- 
ous workers  who  have  not  heretofore  been  as- 
sociated with  us. 

As  the  time  for  our  annual  reunion  ap- 
proached, my  mind  became  someiwhat  solicit- 
ious  as  to  the  sub.jeet  of  this  address.  What 
sliall  I  or  what  can  I  write  about  that  had  not 
been  presented  to  ,you  in  a  more  attractive 
form  than  I  felt  that  it  was  possible  for  me 


For  many  years  ( 


DOCTOR  LEWIS  ROGERS 
18I2--1875 

le  of  the  leading:  teachers  and  practitione 
and  President  of  the  State  Society. 


permitted  to  enjoy  this  honor  in4he  prosper- 
ons  and  hospitable  metropolis  of  Western 
Kentucky.  I  am  pleased  with  the  centrifugal 
movement  which  this  meeting  inaugurates. 
ITeretofore  we  have  met  in  the  more  central 
parts  of  the  state:  hereafter  we  may  indulge 
the  hope  that  the  members  from  the  remote 
parts  will  more  fully  participate  in  our  pro- 
ceedings,  and   contribute  the  result  of  their 

state  Medical  Sn- 


to  present  it  was  naturally  a  question  of 
much  anxiety  to  me.  The  subject  of  medical 
■education  was  "a  thrice-told  tale."  In  all 
of  its  many  important  phases  as  connected 
with  medical  .schools  and  office  instruction,  h 
had  been  discussed  over  and  over  again  much 
more  ably  than  I  could  discuss  it.  This  would 
not  do.  And  so  in  regard  to  the  amount  and 
the  kind  of  education  which  should  be  requir- 
ed as  preliminary  to  the  study  of  medicine. 
This  had  formed  the  vexed  topic  of  many  an 


.12^ 


KEXIUCKY    MEDICAL     JOl'FiXAL. 


iuierestijig  debate  before  this  body  and  else- 
\".Jiere.  yauitary  science,  in  all  of  its  wide 
range,  had  often  been  pressed  upon  your  at- 
Iciition  and  disposed  of  as  it  should  be.  1 
could  add  nothing  to  it.  ,\nd  so  again  witli 
the  AnatO)riy  Bill,  with  the  law  for  tne  goveru- 
ineut  of  apothecaries,  and  many  other  mat- 
ters of  equal  and  even  greater  monieut.  They 
all  have  reference  to  the  present  or  future 
iuterests  of  the  public  and  tlae  profession,  and 
1  have  felt  so  sure  that  they  would  continue 
lo  eommand  the  public  and  professional  mind 
until  their  beuebcent  purposes  were  aceoinp- 
lished  that  1  could  but  deem  it  uuprotitabla 
to  raise  my  voice  in  their  behalf. 

The  history  of  medicine  in  Kentucky,  the 
remarkable  record  which  the  profession  has 
made  since  the  very  infancy  of  the  state,  are 
topics  whic'h  may  be  recalled  with  just  pride 
and  very  great  plea.sure.  I  propose  to  speak 
of  some  of  these  by-gone  things  as  " "  Facts  and 
Ixcminiscences  of  the  iledical  History  of  Ken- 
tuck}^"  ^\Iany  of  the  facts  are  ali-eady  fa- 
railiar  to  you  iu  a  fragmentary  form;  it  may 
not  be  unprofitable  or  unintei'esting  to  view 
them  in  a  group.  I\Ij-  own  reminiseuces  maj" 
be  received  for  what  they  are  worth. 

\\Tiatever  may  be  the  present  status  of 
Kentuckj-  medicine,  and  I  hold  that  it  is  high, 
the  past  at  least  is  secure.  When  Kentucky 
was  to  a  large  extent  a  wilderness,  and  not 
/et  wholly  free  from  hostile  incursions  of  tu^ 
Indians,  when  the  population  was  so  sparse 
as  scarcely  to  give  encouragement  to  any  edu- 
cational entei"prises  except  such  as  were  uecc. 
sary  for  the  simplest  branches  of  learning,  the 
mterests  of  medicine  were  not  only  not  neg- 
lected but  received  conspicuous  regard. 

Ju  1798  "Transylvania  University"  ana 
the  '"Kentuck}-  Academy"  were  united  under 
one  board  of  trustees,  with  the  name  of 
"Transylvania  University,"  and  in  1799  law 
and  medical  departments  were  added  to  the 
academical.  Br.  Sami;el  Brown  was  appoint- 
ed the  first  professor  of  medicine  iu  Transyl- 
vania, and  the  first  in  the  West.  Dr.  Francis 
Kidgeley  was  appointed  a  professor  in  the 
Inivei-sity  shortly  after  Dr.  Brown,  and  was 
.iie  fii"St  to  deliver  a  eoiu-se  of  medical  K 
tiires  in  the  West.  From  1799  to  1817  various 
a])pointnients  wei-e  made  in  the  medical  de- 
l)artment.  and  partial  courses  of  lectures  were 
delivered.  During  this  interval,  among  tlie 
locally-distinguished  men  who  were  appointed 
(()  professorships,  none  were  more  ri^markalile 
1ha)i  Dr.  Joseph  Buchanan.  He  died  in  Lou- 
isville in  1S29 :  and  I  call  up  from  the  memor- 
ies of  my  boyhood,  with  great  distinctness,  his 
slender,  flexible  form,  massive  head,  and 
thougthful.  intellectual  face.  He  was  a  man 
of  gi-eat  and  varied  powers  of  mind.  He  was 
a  mechanical,  medical,  and  political  philoso- 
plier.  His  "spiral"  steam  boiler,  the  proto- 
type of  the  exploding  and  exploded  tubular 


boiler,  and  his  steam  land-carriage,  were 
among  tlie  wonders  of  the  day.  As  a  piiysici- 
au,  his  papers  attracted  distinguished  notice 
from  the  medical  savants  of  Uhiladelphia, 
dieu  the  great  center  of  medical  science,  -a-^. 
a  poLiticai  writer,  he  was  deemed  worthy  to 
discuss,  and  did  discuss  with  power  and  effect, 
the  momentous  problems  of  special  and  gen- 
eral political  economy  agitating  the  country 
at  the  stirruig  period  when  Ciay,  Webster, 
Jolm  Qiiiney  Adams.  John  C.  Calhoun,  and 
Andrew  Jackson  were  the  ruling  spirits.  Dr. 
jJuchanan  was  the  editor  of  the  Louisvuic 
Focus,  a  post  for  which  he  was  selected  by  the 
discerning  mind  of  William  W.  Worsley,  the 
founder  of  the  Louisvillo  Focus  and  of  the 
great  pubUsbing  house  of  Johu  P.  Morton  & 
Co.  If  Dr.  Buchanan  had  concentrated  his 
Avouderful  mind  upon  some  one  of  the  great 
branches  of  medicine,  he  woidd  have  added 
much  to  the  luster  of  Kentucky  medicine. 
■  ■  His  fidl  nature,  like  that  river  of  which 
Alexander  broke  the  strength,  spent  itself  in 
channels  which  had  no  great  name  on  the 
earth." 

In  1817  a  full  course  was  given  in  Tran- 
sylvania to  a  class  of  twenty-  pupils,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1818  the  degree  of  M.  D.,  was 
conferred  for  first  time  in  the  West.  John 
Lawson  i[cC"ullough,  of  Lexington,  was  the 
first  graduate  in  medicine  iu  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.  History  thus  assigns  to  Ken- 
tuekv  the  honor  of  iuauguT-ating  the  teaching 
of  scientific  medicine  in  the  West.  The  first 
to  begin,  she  has  occupied  the  most  prominent 
position  in  this  field  of  education  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  Her  schools  have  been  the  most 
popular,  her  classes  the  largest,  her  profes- 
soi*s  tlie  most  learned,  her  graduates  the  lead- 
ing praetitionei-s  of  the  South  and  West,  aud 
her  influence  upon  practical  medicine  and 
surgery  greater  thau  that  of  all  other  schools. 

Eauck's  Histoi'v  of  Lexington  states  "tua; 
vaccination  had  been  introduced  for  several 
years  in  Lexington  by  Dr.  Samuel  Brown,  of 
Transylvania,  when  the  first  attempts  at  it 
were  being  made  in  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia. Up  to  1802  he  had  vaccinated  up- 
ward of  five  hundred  persons  iu  Kentucky.' 
This  invaluable  discoveiy  was  announced  by 
-leuuer  in  1798,  and  we  find  it  successfully 
introduced  into  the  backwoods  of  the  West, 
liy  Kentueks-  enterprise,  before  1802.  The 
Kiue-poek  Institution  of  New  York  was  es- 
tablished in  1802. 

The  Eastern  Lunatic  Asylum  has  long  en- 
joyed a  distinguished  place  among  institu- 
tions  of  the  kind  in  this  coimtry.  Dr.  W.  S 
Chipley,  for  so  many  yeai-s  the  eminent  su- 
periulendent  of  this  asylum,  has  made  it 
known  at  home  and  abroad  by  his  valuable  re- 
ports and  oth.er  papers  upon  mental  aliens 
tioii.  This  asylum  was  founded  in  1816.  im- 
der  the  name  of  the  "Fayette  Asylum."     It 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY,  125 

was  the  first,  ever  established  in  the  western  I'ltiy  be  talnilated,  so  as  to  be  seen  more  clear- 

countrv,  and  the  second  state  asylum  opened  ly: 

in  the  United  States.  Spencer  Wells  73.25% 

in  connection  with  the  history  of  mediciuc  Clay    72.807o 

pertaining  to  Lexington,  Dr.  B.  W.  Dudley  W.  L.  Atlee  71.00% 

must  ever  occupy  a  conspicuous  place.     Dis  Bradford 90.00% 

tinguished  in  every  branch  of  sui'gery,  he  was  Kimball     66.11% 

particularly   eminent,   as   we  all  know,   as  a  Dunlap    80.00% 

lithotomist'.     If  not  the  tirst  surgeon  to  per-  Peaslee    67.:85% 

form  this  operation  in     KentucJiy     and  the  Thomas, 66.66% 

West,  he  was  the  first  lithotoniist  in  the  num.-  ^^-^^  j^^^  attained  the  highest  success  yet 

Ijerand  successful  results  of  his  eases  of  the  ^^..^e^g^  ^^  Europe,  having  saved  81  of  his 

period  m  which  he  lived.     His  fame  was  Co-  ^.^.^^  ^qq             ,^^^  30  ^^  j^-^  ^^^^  gg  ^^^^^    ^^ 

existent  ^vith  surgical  literature.  ^j^^  ^t^.^^^^  g^^^^^  ^^^            .^^  ^^            -^  g.. 

K  Kentucky  had  couf erred  no  other  bene-  ^^^^  _  -^  (.^^^^  g^i^^^^  g^    -^  ^^^^^^  50 

taction   upon     mankind      the     operation  oi  -^  Oermanv  41.66.    Spencer  Wells  thinks  the 

ovariotomy  performed  tor  the   first  time  by  ^              ^^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^           ^^^^^_  ^^  ^^^^^  .^^ 

Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell,  of  Danville,  in  1809,  .-^^^-^  practice,  mthout  excluding  those  ex- 
would  entitle  her  to  immortal  honor^  I  belie ..  ,^.^^^g  ^^^^^  -^  ^^,j^i^j^  ^1^^  operation  is  perform- 
that_  no  one  no.w  denies  to  Dr.  McDowell  the  ^^  ,^^  ^  j^^^.^^^.^  j 

originality  of  this  lieroic  surgical  achievement.  ^^^^  ^,n-pose  in  presenting  these  details  is  to 
Kvery  surgeon  in  this  conntry  concedes  it.  ^^^^  attention  to  the  fact  that  Dr.  Taylor 
In  a  conversation  which  I  had,  m  1865,  .^oth  a  j.,,^,ifo,.^  ^f  Augusta,  Kentucky,  has  already 
number  of  eminent  surgeons  of  Great  Brit-  .,^  Gained  the  90  per  cent,  success  which  Wells 
am,  among-  whom  may  be  mentioned  air.  jj^-^j^^  ^^  ultimately  attained.  In  Ken- 
Spencer  Wells,  Mr.  Baker  Brown,  and  Sir  ^^^.j.  ^^^j^^^.^  ^j^^  operation  was  first  nerform- 
James  Syme,  no  one  had  any  reserve  on  the  ^j^^  j^-  j^,^^^  ^^^^^^^^  j^^^  ^^^^  reached.  ^ 
subject  except  Mr.  Syme.  While  he  did  not  p^^^^^^  presents  the  great  benefits  confer- 
deny  the  claim  of  Dr.  McDowell,  he  did  not  ^^,^^  ,  ovai'iotomv  in  the  following  words :  "  It 
admit  It.  It  IS  not  a  little  amusing  sometimes  ^^  ^^^^^^^^  ^j;^^^  -^^  ^1^^  United  States  and 
to  note  with  what  reluctance  European  ^^reat  Britain  alone  ovariotomy  has  within  the 
writers  recognize  thegreat -works  of  American  ^^^^^  ^j^-^,^^^  ^^^^^^  directly  contributed  more 
surgeons  and  physicians.  In  a  recent  article  ^,^g^  ^^-^^^  thousand  years  of  active  life  to 
in  the  Echnhurgh  Review  upon  the  progress  ^^^^  ^^  ^^  ,^^,j^.^j^  ^^^^^1^-^  j^.^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^  j^,,-, 
of  medicme  and  surgery,  the  operation  of  ^,^-.,i.ioto^,.  ^g.^er  been  performed." 
ovariotoinv  is  tullv  discussed  without  the  „,  ^  \.^  ^  n  t^  j.  ^  ■  T-^  -n 
mention  of  Dr.  McDowell.  Mr.  Spencer  Wells  ,.  "^^  Institute  for  Deaf-mutes  .n  Danvil  e. 
is  made  the  hero  of  the  operation  !  -Kentucky    was  founded  m  1823      It  was    he 

The  value  of  this  operation  can  be  better  ;^Is\"i«™T  ^^*^^'"^f  established  m  the 

estimated  bv  the  statistics  of  eminent  special-  J'^s t     It  followed     closelv     upon     those  ot 

ists.    It  is  to  be  viewed  as  a  remedy  for  a  dis-  Hartford,  New  1  ork,  and  Philadelphia   Prom 

ease  of  utter  hopelessness,  if  permitted  to  pur-  ^^  «"f  ^  be|ii™ing  it  has  become  a  noble  and 

sn.e  an  undisturbed  career.     Medicines  haA^e  !^^ost  beneficient  sehool.     Mr.  Jacobs,  so  long 

1.0  influence  over  it.     Though  a  few  may  live  jtf   ^^P^'-^flf '^^^  .,.^^^     ""  n%l  .    ^.X 

many  drearv  years,  the  average  duration  of  throughout  the  civilized,  world.   The  results 

"    -^             •         .     '                           1  attained  m  the  education  ot  deat-mutes  are 

ovarian  tumors  is  from  tw^o  to  three  years,  astonishing.      They  no     longer     .speak  by   a 

Dr.  McDowell  operated  thirteen  times,  as  far  uianual  alphabet  or  manual  signs  only,  but 

as  can  be  ascertained.    He  preserved  the  lives  are  trained  to  utter  their  thoughts  in  artieu- 

of  six  out  of  seven  of  his  first  patients.    How  late  sounds  wonderfully  perfect, 

raanv  of  the  other  cases  were  successful  is  not  Dr.  McDowell  and  Mr.  Jacobs  have  given 

known,  thoush  it  is  certain  that  several  were  the  "Hme  of  Danville  an  illustrious  perpetuity 

■'^     -     -,         n     .  T,r     TiiT  n  >            •  +  and  bequeathed  to     their     successors  m  that 

saved.     Fp  to  June  last  Mr.  Wells  s  ovariot-  i^^g^^^iful  town  a  reputation  which  their  pride 

omies  numhered  500,  with  128  deaths.    From  should  be  emulous  to  sustain.    It  is  not  an  un- 

March,  1870,  to  .-Vpril,  1871,  he  had  a  success-  deserved  eulogium  to  say  that  Dr.   John  D. 

ion  of  32  cases  in  private  practice  without  one  Jackson  and  his  associates  of  the  Boyle  Couu- 

death.     Dr.  Keith,  of  Edinburgh,  up  to  July  ty  Medical     Society     uphold     very  ably  the 

-,,,„,.               -,,          1     oc  prestige  alreadv  acquired, 

ast  had  operated  146    times     with    only  26  >■         ^             n  t^      -..^                      .,■.+.-,,.+  +- 

^^  .^  ^     .  ^-,         £  -ni  -1    1  1   I  ■      1,  Dr.   Alban   Goldsmith  was  an  assistant  t(j 

deaths.    Dr.  W.  L.  Atlee.  of  Phdadelphia,  has  -,^^,    jf^j^^^.p^  ^.^  ,^^,,,,^1  of  his  ovariotomies, 

operated  about  300  times.    Mr.  Clay,  of  Man-  .-|,^^  operated  himself  one  or  more  times.     He 

Chester,  up  to  December,  1871,  had  operated  visited  Europe  at  the  time  that  Civiale  was 

250  times,  with  182  successes.     The  results  attracting  great  attention  to  his  original  op- 


3L>6 


h'EXrrCKY     MEDICAL     Jori^XAL 


ei-atiou  of  lithotripsy.  Dr.  Goldsmith,  vuider 
the  teachings  of  this  master,  perfected  him- 
self in  this  specialty';  and  returning  to  his 
home  in  Kentucky  operated  on  a  gentleman  in 
Lincoln  County  in  1829.  the  first  operation  of 
lithotripsy  ever  peifornied  in  Kentucky  or  in 
tlie  United  States.  Dr.  Goldsmith,  desiring  a 
wider  field  for  his  labors,  removed  to  Louis- 
ville in  a  short  while.  In  that  city  I  had  the 
1  Measure  of  seeing  him  operate  in  this  special 
way  and  in  other  branches  of  surgery.  While 
)-esiding  in  Louisville  he  conceived  the  project 
of  another  medical  school,  recognizing  the  im- 
portance of  a  large  hospital  and  its  clinical 
facilities  in  the  teacliing  of  medicine  and  surg- 
ery. To  eaiTv  out  tliis  admirable  design  he 
procured  from,  the  legislature,  in  1833,  the 
charter  of  the  "^ledical  Institute"  of  Louis- 
^•ille.  A  faculty  was  organized,  but  did  not 
lecture.  "When  a  jriortion  of  the  faculty  of  the 
^fedical  Department  of  Transylvania  Univers- 
ity seceded  from  that  school,  in  1837,  tliej^  or- 
ganized under  the  charter  of  the  Institute, 
and  continued  to  act  under  it  until  the  Uni- 
versity of  Louisville  was  chartered,  in  1815. 
Dr.  Goldsmith  may  thus  be  eonsidei-ed  the  le- 
gal founder  of  a  school  so  long  sheltered  by 
iiis  charter. 

From  Louisville  Dr.  Goldsmith  removed  to 
Cincinnati,  and  for  a  time  was  profes-sor  of 
surgei'y  in  one  of  the  schools  of  that  city ;  but 
finally  settled  permanently  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  pursuing  to  the  close  of  his  life  the 
special  branch  of  surgery  in  which  he  was  sn 
skilled.  His  son  Professor  Middleton  Gold- 
smith, is  well  known  to  the  profession  of  this 
state  as  an  able  teacher  and  practitioner  oi 
surgery. 

Dr.  Gi'oss,  in  his  report  on  Kentucky  Sur- 
gery, made  to  this  Society  in  1852.  remarks: 
"In  the  treatment  of  hernia  Kentucky  may 
jxistly  claim  the  credit  of  having  effected  one 
laost  valuable  improvement.  The  truss  in- 
vented li.v  ^[r.  Stagner,  and  afterward.^  modi- 
lied  by  Dr.  Hood,  has  acquired  a  world-'nide 
celebrity.  The  value  of  the  invention  of  Stag- 
ner and  Hood  can  be  fully  appreciated  by 
those  only  who  are  familiar  with  the  nature 
and  treatment  of  hernia,  and  with  the  state 
of  our  knowledge  thereof  prior  to  their  time." 

In  the  same  report  Dr.  Gross  records  "tha' 
some  years  ago  Dr.  Bowman  of  Han-odslnirg, 
showed  me  an  instrument  for  injecting  the 
parts  immediately  around  the  abdominal 
canal  and  apertures  with  a  weak  solution  of 
iodine  avid  other  articles.  It  was  constructed 
upon  the  principles  of  an  ordinary  s.vringe. 
with  an  extrem':'lv  deliriate  nozzle,  intended  to 
bt  introduced  throush  a  small  opening  in  the 
skin.  TVe  h^re  find  the  hvpodermic  s.vringe 
foreshadowed,  if  not  actually  invented.  When 
Wood  published  his  first  papers  on  the  sub- 
ject of  hypodei-mic  medication.  I  carried  out 
Ihe  practice,  with  the  syi'inge  having  a  deli- 


cately-curved nozzle  used  by  dentists,  in  the 
treatment  of  an  obstinate  case  of  lumbago.  Dr. 
S.  Brandies,  of  Louisville,  imported  the  fir.st 
hypodennic  syringe  ever  used  in  Kentuckj', 
as  he  also  did,  through  me,  in  1862,  the  first 
laryngoscope. 

The  Loiiisville  Marine  Hospital  was  found- 
ed in  1817,  and  was  among  the  first  of  the 
great  public  charities  in  the  valley  for  sick 
and  disabled  marines.  It  was  sustained  partly 
in-  taxes  upon  sales  at  auction,  and  partly  by 
a  fund  created,  under  the  law  of  the  United 
States,  from  weekly  or  monthly  sums  paid 
by  all  sailors  na^■igatin^  the  Ohio  and  other 
western  rivers.  This  in.stitution  was  admir- 
ably managed.  Its  trastees  were  selected 
from  the  best  citizens  of  Louisville,  and  its 
physiciajis  and  surgeons  were  the  elite  of  the 
profession,  mature  men  engaged  in  a  large 
and  busy  private  practice.  Among  them  I  re- 
call the  names  of  Drs.  Richard  Ferguson, 
George  W.  Smith,  Coleman  Rogers,  Sr.,  Jo- 
seph iliddleton,  John  P.  Harrison,  R.  P.  Gist, 
and  Llewelynu  Powell.  Conspicuous  in  this 
medical  staff,  for  personal  virtues,  for  the 
qualities  of  the  Chritsian  gentleman  and  for 
all  of  the  attributes  of  the  accomplished  phy- 
sician, it  gives  me  pleasure  to  single  out  for 
special  notice  Dr.  Harrison, 
^ly  earliest  recollections  of  medicine  are  asso- 
ciated with  this  remarkable  man.  I  knew  him 
^vell.  and  his  history  has  always  been  a  favor- 
ite theme  with  me.  In  this  hospital  he  labored 
very  faithfully,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
medical  career  of  great  usefulness  and  dis- 
tinction. Kent!iclr\'  never  produced  a  more 
\\orthy  son.  He  was  an  assidious  worker  at 
the  bedside  and  in  the  dissecting  room.  He 
speJit  many  of  the  long  winter  nights  in  the 
study  of  all  forms  of  anatomy  by  minute  and 
careful  dissection.  Not  content  with  the 
r:!odicum  of  anatomical  knowledge  acquired 
while  at1  ending  his  several  courses  of  lectures, 
it  was  his  custom  to  revise  this  important 
lii'anch  of  study  every  winter.  As  a  boy,  T 
was  oftmi  his  companion  in  the  fourth  stoxy 
of  the  hospital.  Dr.  Harrison  was  a  general 
as  well  as  a  medical  scholar.  He  delighted  in 
all  kinds  of  polite  literature.  He  was  pecul- 
iar in  his  habits  of  reading.  The  lighter 
ivorks  of  general  literature  occupied  his  leis- 
ure hours  in  the  warm  summer  months,  while 
tht  long  winter  evenings  were  devoted  to  the 
severer  studies  of  the  sciences.  He  was  never 
idle.  Of  an  ardent  and  active  temperament, 
he  could  not  be  idle.  He  was  a  man  of  the 
purest  pei"sonal  and  professional  honor.  To- 
ward his  professional  brethren  he  bore  him- 
self with  fastidioiis  care.  In  naedical  ethics 
he  was  a  martinet.  There  were  subordinate 
qualities  aboiit  Dr.  Harrison  which  should 
and  can  pertain  to  every  phyisican.  Every 
one  can  not  be  tall  and  graceful  in  form  as 
Dr.  Harrison  was,   with  dark  hair  and  com- 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY. 


127 


plc'xion  and  keen  gray  eyes;  but  every  one 
can  have  agreeable  manTiers,  a  dignified,  beai'- 
ing  and  be  neat  in  dress  and  person.  Dr.  Har- 
rison was  always  so.  He  dressed  simply  but 
elegantly,  and  everj'thing  about  him  looked 
the  refined  gentleman.  His  office  was  attract- 
ive, the  furniture  good  and  in  order,  the  books 
in  his  large  library  systematically  arranged. 
When  his  patients  called  upon  hini  they  were 
impressed  by  these  things.  His  horse  was  al- 
^vays  well  groomed,  his  harness  Ijright,  and  his 
gig  perfectly  clean.  In  all  regards  lie  sus- 
tained the  respectability  of  his  calling.  These 
personal  details  may  seem  unworthy  of  notice 
in  an  address  like  this,  but  they  have  an  im- 
portant moral.  I  am  sure  that  the  influence 
and  usefulness  of  medical  men  in  cities,  vil- 
lages, and  country  places,  are  materially  less- 
ened by  inattention  to  such  matters  as  were 
striking  qualities  of  Dr.  Hari'ison.  Person- 
al qualities  are  often  tokens  of  professional 
character.  Slovenly  dress,  unkempt  hair,  a 
dirty  office,  with  a.  few  broken  chairs,  and  a 
rickety  table  with  a  dusty  slate  on  it,  are  not 
likely  to  inspire  the  sick  with  pleasant  ideas 
of  their  medical  adviser.  Such  conditions 
spring  from  and  react  upon  the  character  of 
the  physician. 

Dr.  Harrison  kept  himself  fully  up  with 
the  advances  of  medicine.  The  first  stetho- 
scope I  ever  saw,  and  the  first  one  brought  to 
Kentuckj^  was  imported  by  him.  It  was  of 
the  pattern  originally  devised  and  made  by 
Laennec  himself,  and  was  in  my  possession  for 
many  years.  Dr.  Harrison  talked  of  going  to 
Plurope  to  study  this  new  physical  diagnosis 
of  diseases  of  ihe  chest,  but  was  for  a  time 
skeptical  as  to  Ihe  reality  of  Laennec 's  great 
revelations. 

In  this  connection  my  memory  calls  up  the 
interesting  fact  that  Prof.  Henry  M.  Bullitt, 
of  the  Louisville  Medical  College,  was  the  first 
physician  in  Kentucky,  as  far  as  I  am  in- 
formed, to  carry  the  stethoscope  into  the  daily 
study  of  his  cases.  He  returned  from  Phila- 
delphia in  1838.  having  become  an  expert  in 
this  method  of  diagnosis,  under  the  teachings 
of  Gerhard  and  Pennock.  I  was  then  pur- 
suing the  same  study  in  the  wards  of  the 
Marine  Hospital,  and  owe  my  first  advances 
to  rhe  instruction  of  Dr.  Bullitt.  Dr.  Bullitt 
brought  wiih  him,  besides  this  practical 
knowledige,  a  mind  thoi'oughly  and  ardently 
imbued  with  Louis's  inductive^  method  o': 
studying  diseases.  This  method,  substituting 
carefiilly-ascertained  acts  and  the  results  in- 
ductively evolved  from  them  for  mere  closet 
theories,  was  then  bringing  about  a  thorouah 
revolution  in  the  science  of  medicine.  In  this 
Dr.  Bullitt  played  an  efficient  part  by  his  pen 
and  his  teaching. 

Dr.  Harrison,  appreciated  at  an  earh^  day 
the  importance  of  clinical  medicine,  and  was 
among  the  first  in  the  "West  to  give  clinical 


h-ctiires,  in  the  wai-ds  of  the  Marine  Hospital, 
to  a  class  of  students.  The  clinical  advantages 
of  Louisville  caused  him  to  look  to  that  city 
as  the  future  seat  of  a  great  medical  school. 

In  1834  Dr.  Harrison  removed  to  Phila- 
delphia to  find  a  more  suitable  theatre  for  the 
]'ealization  of  his  ambitious  purposes.  He  was 
called  very  soon,  however,  to  fill  an  important 
chair  in  one  of  the  schools  of  Cincinnati. 
While  teachinig  here,  and  for  many  years  be- 
fore, his  pen  was  prolific  in  the  production  of 
valuable  papers  on,  various  medical  subjects. 
As  11  teacher  of  materia  medica  he  was  dis- 
tinguished for  his  sound  and  practical  thera- 
jieutics.  He  was  an  able  practitioner,  and 
bi-ought  before  his  class  the  ripe  fruits  of  an 
extensive  experience.  He  published  a  "Treat- 
ise on  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics," 
tlie  first  and  only  systematic  work  on  this  sub- 
ject by  a  western  j)hysician.  The  practical 
po.itions  of  this  work  are  excellent,  and  worthy 
of  all  respect  even  at  the  present  day.  The 
book  is  remarkable  as  being  probably  the  last 
ever  published  in  this  country  in  which  the 
doctrines  of  pure  solidism  are  asserted  and 
those  of  humoralism  opposed.  The  idea  of 
the  absorption  of  medicines  by  the  blood-ves- 
sels is  vehementlv  rebuked. 

In  1838  Dr.  Charles  Caldwell  delivered  the 
first  clinical  lectures  of  the  University  of  Lou- 
isville in  the  wards  of  the  Marine  Hospital.  I 
was  his  clinical  assistant.  In  1839  the  first 
clinical  amphitheater  ever  founded  in  the 
West  'was  attached  to  this  Hospital.  From 
that  room,  for  more  than  thirty  years,  the 
practical  lessons  of  Drake,  Gross,  Eve,  J.  B. 
Flint,  Bartlett.  Ethelbert  Dudley,  Annan, 
Austin  Flint,  Palmer,  Hardin,  Middleton 
Goldsmith,  D.  W.  Yandell,  and  their  asso- 
ciates and  successors,  have  been  diffused 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this 
country. 

Dr.  Samuel  L.  Metcalfe,  who  died  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1856,  had  a  scientific  character  of 
which  Kentucky  may  well  be  proud.  Though 
known  to  many  of  the  older  physicians,  he  is 
possibly  unknown  to  some  of  the  junior  mem- 
bers of  the  profession.  In  1833  Dr.  Metcalfe 
jjublished  at  New  York,  a.  treatise,  entitled 
'"A  New  Theory  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism," 
containing  speculations  of  a  remarkable  char- 
acter, and  contending  for  the  idenity,  in  cer- 
tain relations,  of  heat,  electricity,  and  mag- 
netism. In  it  were  the  germs  of  the  great 
Ijhilosophical  theory  called  "the  correlation 
of  forces,"  now  accepted  by  the  scientific 
world.  This  book  was  reviewed  by  Dr.  T.  S. 
Bell,  in  the  Louisville  Journal,  shortly  after 
it  was  published,  and  pronounced  the  first 
work  of  its  kind  on  the  subject. 

In  1838  this  work  was  expanded  into  a 
noble  treatise,  entitled  "Caloric;  its  Mechan- 
ical, Chemical,  and  Vital  Agencies  in  the 
Phenomena  of  Nature."     Dr.   Metcalfe  took 


.T2S 


KENTUCKY     MEDICAL     JCFKNAL. 


the  maniisc-ript  to  London  and  endeavored  to 
liiid  a  puMislier.  One  was  at  last  found,  who 
a.ureed  to  publish  it  provided  the  author 
would  permit  hiiu  to  submit  the  manuscript 
to  the  inspection  and  approval  of:  a  scientific 
reader  employed  for  such  purposes.  The 
iv.anuscript  was  kept  for  some  weeks,  and  af ■ 
te]'  junny  calls  Dr.  iretealfe  succeeded  in  re- 
covering it,  with  the  information  that  the 
judgmeut  of  the  reader  was  unfavorable. 
Prof.  J.  B.  Flint  was  in  London  at  the  time, 
purchasing  the  library  for  the  IMedical  De- 
partment of  the  TTniversity  of  Louisville,  and 
lo  liim  Dr.  JMetcalfe  communicated  these  facts 
with  the  additional  statemfnt  that  he  had 
ascertained,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  Michael 
Faj'aday  was  the  reader  to  whom  his  manu- 
.script  had  been  submitted.  The  doctrine  of 
"The  Correlation  of  Forces"  which  forms  a 
conspicuous  element  of  the  fame  of  Faraday, 
was  cleai-ly  and  pop;ently  ^aug'ht  in  this  new 
work  of  the  Kentucky  philosopher:  and  prior 
to  the  time  that  Dr.  IMetcalfe's  manuscript 
was  perused  by  Faradav  he  had  never  taught 
aov  thing-  of  the  kind.  '  In  1843  Dr.  Metcalfe 
published  his  treatise  in  two  large  volumes. 
It  was  received  in  Europe  with  an  unusual 
amount  of  favor.  In  1833  a  second  edition 
Avas  published,  a  copy  of  whidi  is  owned  by 
my  distinguished  friend,  Dr.  T.  S.  Bell. 

Dr.  Metcalfe  resided  near  Simpsouville, 
Shelby  County,  while  in  KentucW.  The 
state,  and  especially  the  medical  men,  have 
abundant  reason  to  cherish  his  well-earned 
fame.  His  reputation  was  so  firmly  establish- 
ed in  Europe  that  he  was  importuned  to  be- 
come a  candidate  for  the  Gregorian  Chair  in 
the  TTniversity  of  Edinburgh,  which  he  de- 
clined. 

In  January,  1843.  Dr.  Wm.  A.  McDowell,  a 
cousin  of  the  great  ovariotoraist.  and  one  of 
his  aids  in  the  performance  of  his  operations, 
]ml)li.shed  an  octavo  volume,  of  two  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  pages,  entitled  "A  Demonstra- 
tion of  the  Curability  of  Pulraonarv  Con- 
sumption in  all  of  its  Stages."  Dr.  ^IcDowell 
removed  to  Louisville  some  j'ears  anterior  to 
th.is  date,  with  a  name  and  prestige  which 
soon  won  for  him  an  exeellent  practice  in  all 
of  the  branches  of  medicine.  Pulmonary 
consumption  was  one  of  his  favorite  subjects, 
and  he  soon  put  forth  the  claim  of  unusual 
success  in  the  treatment  of  this  disease.  Such 
unusual  results  were  announced  as  to  excite 
in  the  minds  of  his  professional  friends  an  un- 
just suspicion  of  ehai-lantry.  "When  his  book 
appeared  it  was  received  not  only  with  in- 
credulity but  with  severe  and  sneering  criti- 
cisms. Time,  however,  has  done  justice  to  Dr. 
McDowell's  character  and  claims.  The  Avork, 
tiiough  defective  in  literary  merit,  crude  in 
many  of  its  ideas,  and  asserting  powers  for 
many  medicines  which  they  do  not  possess, 
contained  not  onlv  the  germ  but  the  substance 


fully  developed  of  the  therapeutics  of  con- 
sumption now  considered  orthodox.  He 
states  that  he  fii-st  derived  the  views  which 
he  inculcates,  modified  by  what  he  denomi- 
nates the  antipodal  plan,  from  Dr.  Joseph 
i'arrish,  of  Philadelphia.  To  quote  the  lan- 
guage of  his  pi-efaee:  "We  concluded  upon 
com  (Dining  his  theory  with  an  antipodal  plan 
\  'hich  we  ourselves  had  determined  to  adopt, 
consisting  of  a  course  of  dietetics  and  regi- 
men calculated  to  produee  acquired  gout;  for 
we  regarded  gout  as  tlie  extreme  athletic  or 
tonic  morbid  conditio!],  consumption  as  the 
extreme  atonic."  Though  this  mode  of  pre- 
senting the  subject  be  crude  and  coarse  when 
compared  with  our  more  retined  and  seeming- 
ly more  recondite  rationale  of  treatment,  the 
s.iUiie  gre.at  analeptic  truth  underlies  both.  T 
have  no  doubt  that  Dr.  ilcDowell  cured  many 
cases  of  genuine  phthisis  pulmonaris.  and  pro- 
longed the  lives  of  many  more,  as  the  tonic 
and  restorative  plan,  now  universally  adopt- 
ed, is  well  known  to  do.  His  book  was  in  ad- 
vance of  the  times  in  this  country  certainly, 
a)\d  T  do  not  know  that  a  formal  presentation 
of  the  subject  had  been  made  in  Europe.  Dr. 
J.  Hughes  Bennett,  of  Edinburgh,  and  other 
distinguished  co-workers,  were  beginning  to 
inculcate  very  strongly  the  .same  method  of 
treatment,  but  had  not  given  a  published 
form  to  their  views.  This  book  of  Dr.  IMcDow- 
elTs  has  not  secured  the  place  in  the  litera- 
ture of  pulmonary  consumption  to  which  its 
intrinsic  merit  entitles  it. 

The  Kentucky  Institute  for  the  Blind  was 
incorpoi'ated  in  1842.  The  movement  for 
such  a  school  in  our  state  was  inaugurated  by 
Dr.  S.  (t.  Howe,  of  JIassachusetts,  who  had  so 
successfully  begun  the  beneficient  work  in  the 
latter  state.  Kentiicky  was  among  the  first  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  "Old  Bay  State." 
]"rom  its  foundation  to  the  present  time,  this 
institution  has  been  an  object  of  just  pride. 
l\l uch  of  its  progressive  success  has  been  due 
to  an  eminent  member  of  our  profession. 
"To  inaugurate  a  great  charity  is  a  noble 
work;  but  to  watch  over  it,  to  foster  it,  to 
stand  by  it  h'om  the  beginning,  to  be  its  firm 
friend  through  every  disaster  and  its  coun- 
selor in  every  emergency;  to  give  it  un- 
wearied attention  for  over  thirty  years,  and 
sacrifice  to  its  good  an  incalculable  amount  of 
aiixious  thou.ght  and  valuable  time,  is  surely 
equally  noble.  Such  services  the  state  of 
Kentucky  has  received  fi'om  Dr.  Theodore  S. 
Bell."  This  is  the  testimony  of  one  who  is 
familiar  with  the  devotion  of  this  remarkable 
man  to  this  iustituti'^n.  I  can  add  my  own 
testimony  to  the  same  effect.  In  my  many 
professional  drives  in  the  direction  of  the 
Blind  Asylum  I  rarely  fail  to  meet  Dr.  Bell 
making  his  dailv  visit  to  his  pet  institution. 
By  his  effort?  the  Bible  was  stereotyped,  and 
a  copy  giveu  to    every    wortb>-  pupil  of  th-^ 


MEDICAL    PIONEEI,;s     OF    KENTUCKY, 


129 


school.  Kenlacky  enjoys  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  state  in  the  world  to  make  a  provis- 
ion by  law  of  this  kind. 

The  history  of  the  Blind  Asylum  has  a 
bright  page  for  this  constant  friend.  The 
history  of  Kentucky  medicine  for  the  last 
fo]*ty  years  will  also  devote  to  him  a  large 
and  varied  space.  Ever  busy,  working  more 
hours  every  day  and  sleeping  fewer  than  any 
one  I  ever  knew,  there  is  scarcely  a  depart- 
ment of  medicine  upon  which  he  has  not  left 
his  impress.  As  a  public  hj^gienist,  as  a  med- 
ical philosopher  and  journalist,  as  a  contro- 
versial Avriter,  as  a  practitioner  and  teacher, 
he  has  long  occupied  and  now  occupies  a  con- 
spicuous position.  Seem.ingly  untouched  by 
time,  he  is  to  day  as  fresh  and  strong  in  phys- 
ical and  mental  power  as  he  ever  was. 

Kentucky  was  one  of  the  first  states  of  the 
West,  probably  the  very  first,  to  comprehend 
the  incalculable  vahie  of  a  careful  registration 
of  the  marriages,  births,  and  deaths  of  her 
citizens.  The  importance  of  such  registration, 
fully  appreciated  by  many  of  the  states  of 
Europe  and  hy  a  few  of  this  country,  was 
ably  set  forth  in  Kentucky,  and  impressed 
■upon  the  public  and  legislative  attention, 
with  great  force  and  effect  by  the  first  regular 
president  of  this  Society,  Dr.  W.  L.  Sutton, 
of  Georgetowai.  In  effecting  the  passage  of  a 
very  perfect  law.  by  the  legislature  of  1851-2, 
he  was  ably  re-enforced  by  Dr.  W.  S.  Chip- 
ley  of  Lexington,  and  Dr.  T.  S.  Bell,  of  Louis- 
ville. It  will  not  be  deemed  immodest  in  me 
to  say  that  a  ' '  Lecture  on  Sanitary  Reform, ' ' 
delivered  by  me  to  the  medical  class  of  the 
TMver.sity  of  Louisville  at  the  opening  ses- 
sion of  1S51-2.  and  published  by  the  class,  had 
some  influence,  by  the  logic  of  its  statistics,  in 
determining  the  passage  of  the  act.  Dr.  Sut- 
ton was  the  first  registrar,  and  most  success- 
fully carried  the  law  into  execution.  Before, 
however,  even  a  partial  realization  of  the 
great  results  anticipated  by  him.  Dr.  Sutton 
Avas  removed  by  death  from  this  sphere  of 
I)ub]io  usefulness,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr. 
S.  M.  Bemisfs,  now  of  New  Orleans.  Dr. 
Beraiss  proved  to  be  a  worthy  follower  of  Dr. 
Sutton,  He  carried  the  work  forward  mtli 
zeal  and  ability,  and  his  reports  attracted 
nnich  attention  both  at  home  and  in  foreign 
countries.  The  war  of  1861  put  an  end  to 
this  as  to  all  other  civil  pursuits,  and  since  its 
close  the  law  has  not  been  I'cvived.  It  is  a 
reproach  to  the  intelligence  of  the  state,  and 
most  deeply  damaging  to  her  interests,  that  it 
has  not  been  restored. 

Dr.  Sutton  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the 
])rofession  in  Kentucky.  Plain,  modest,  prac- 
tical, an  excellent  observer,  a  good  writer  and 
a  sound  practitioner,  the  state  has  produced 
few  superior  to  him.  In  sanitary  science  he 
was  the  foremost  man  among  us.  His  broch- 
ure on  Typhoid  Fever,  and  a  few  other  pa- 


pers on  medical  subjects,  gave  him  high  rank 
in  medicine  proper.. 

In  October,  1846.  ether  as  first  used  by  in- 
halation as  an  anesthetic.  In  the  winter  or 
spring  of  1847  Dr.  Joshua  B.  Flint  adminis- 
tered it  for  the  first  time  in  Kentucky,  and 
jioissibly  in  t)ie  west,  in  an  amputation  of  a 
lower  limb  performed  by  him  in  the  presence 
of  a  number  of  professional  friends.  I  was 
present.  The  ether  as  then  called  "letheon," 
and  administered  by  the  aid  of  a  complicated 
inhaler. 

Chloroform  as  first  brought  forward  by 
Sir  James  Y.  Simpson,  as  a  substitute  foj 
ether,  in  November,  1847.  It  was  used  for 
the  first  time  in  midwifery  in  the  city  of  Loii- 
isville,  and  as  far  as  is  'known  in  the  state  of 
Keiituckv,  bv  Prof.  Henn^  Miller,  on  the  20th 
of  February,  1848. 

I'rof.  S.  D.  Gross,  was  the  first  surgeon  in 
Louisville  to  use  chloroform  as  an  anesthetic 
in  surgery.  lie  operated  upon  a  servant  un- 
der its  influence  in  the  family  of  Thos.  F. 
Smith,  ri.mioving  a  large  tumor. 

Professor  Miller  was  a  pioneer  in  several 
other  important  branches  of  his  specialty.  In 
an  able  and  very  candid  paper  denominated 
'•Retrospect  of  TTterine  Pathology  and  Thera- 
peutics in  the  United  tSates,  especially  in  re- 
gard to  intrauterine  medication  in  chronic  in- 
to-nal  metritis,"  published  by  Dr.  Miller, 
in  1871,  it  is  certainly  established  that  he  was 
•  the  first  in  the  West  to  use  the  speculum 
uteri  .systematically  in  the  treatment  of  dis- 
eases of  the  OS  aiid  cervix  uteri.  This  was  m 
early  as  183-5,  a  period  when  the  speculum 
was  almost  unknown  practically  to  the  pro- 
fession in  f[ny  part  of  the  United  States.  The 
first  speculum  was  brought  to  Louisville  by 
Dr.  Allan  P.  Elston,  a  distinguished  young 
physician,  who  after  a  residence  in  Europe  for 
several  years  returned  to  Louisville  and  re- 
sumed his  professional  labors.  Failing  health 
compelled  him  to  retire  after  a  short  but  hon 
orable  career.  Dr.  Miller  was  present  when 
Dr.  Elston  examined  one  of  his  patients  in 
the  Workhouse  Hospital,  and  becoming  enam- 
ored of  the  speculum  forthwith  devoted  him 
self  to  this  interesting  branch  of  siirgery.  It 
is  needless  for  me  to  tell  this  audience'  -with 
wYvat  distinguished  results.  For  a  time  the 
treatment  by  the  aid  of  the  speculum  was  lim- 
ited to  the  OS  and  cervix  utei-i.  In  1843  Dr. 
Miller  extended  +his  local  treatment  still 
deeper,  and  made  applications  to  the  cavity  of 
tlie  organ.  In  the  paper  above  mentioned  he 
proves  conclusively  that  he  'was  in  advance  o  P 
cverj^  one  else  in  the  United  States  in  intra- 
uterine medication.  Kentucky  justly  claims 
})riority  in  both  forms  of  uterine  therapeuTics. 
Dr.  Miller  is  the  author  of  the  first  system- 
atic work  upon  midwifery  ever  published  in 
th.e  West,  a   work  which   ranks  in   original 


i:iO 


KEXTVCKY     MEhKW]      .JOUKXAL. 


thought  and  practical  value  among  the  best 
ever  published. 

Kentucky  has  been  ever  prompt  to  obey  the 
rrquii-eraents  of  philanthropy.  Under  the 
wise  counsels  and  benevolent  influences  of 
Robert  W.  Scott,  the  legislature,  in  1S60, 
founded  the  Kentucky  Institution  for  tlie 
l-klucation  of  Feeble-Minded  ('liildren  and 
Idiots.  This  is  tlie  only  institution  of  the 
kind  south  of  the  Ohio  River.  There  are  sev- 
ei-al  in  the  North,  which  have  undoubtedly 
ac-hieved  surprising  results  in  elevating  the 
mental  status  of  these  unfortunate  beings, 
'i'licy  who  have  not  observed  the  amount  of 
mental  improvement  which  may  be  effected 
by  systematic  training,  in  sidi.jects  who  seem 
to  be  hopelessly  feeble,  would  scarcely  credit 
the  real  results.  Our  owji  institution  prom- 
ises to  be  a  benefaction  worthy  of  generous 
encor.ragement. 

The  Louis^'ille  Colleee  of  Pharmacy  was  es 
tablished  in  August.  1870.  It  has  organized 
a  school  of  pharmacy,  with  efficient  professors, 
to  teach  the  theory  and  practice  of  pharmacy, 
materia  medica,  chemistry,  and  the  collateral 
sciences.  Such  an  institution  has  long  been 
needed  in  KentuckA-.  and  there  now  exists  no 
reason  why  every  apothecary  should  not  be  a 
graduate  of  this  or  some  other  equally  worthy 
college,  and  his  qualifications  fully  ascertain- 
ed, before  he  is  permitted  to  dispense  medic- 
ine. The  interests  of  the  piddic,  no  less  than 
of  the  professio]!  demand  the  enactment  of 
such  a  law. 

On  the  2Stli  of  IMarch,  1872,  the  legislature 
of  Kentucky  passed  an  act  incorporating  the 
' '  Centi-al  Kentufln'  Inebriate  Asylum. ' '  This 
asylum  is  intended  for  the  medical  treatment, 
control,  and  restoration  of  the  inebriate.  It 
is  invested  ivitb.  tlie  power  to  receive  and  retain 
all  iviebriates  who  enter  it.  either  voluntarily  or 
liy  the  order  of  the  committee  of  any  habitual 
tirunkard.  The  committee  of  the  person  may 
keep  him  in  the  asylum  at  disci*etion.  This 
act  does  not  indicate  by  what  power  tliis  com- 
■.nirtee  is  created.  Some  pi'evious  law  mu.st  exist 
and  I  presume  that  an  act,  approved  ilarcli 
18,  1872.  to  pi'ovide  for  the  presei'^.'atiou  of  the 
eslates  and  security  of  pei"sons  of  unsound 
mind,  who  by  habitual  or  excessive  use  of  poi- 
sonous drugs  have  become  incompetent  to 
m.aiiase  tliemselves  or  estates  with  prudence 
and  discretion,  supplies  the  defect  or  provides 
for  it.  This  act  empowers  the  circuit  or  ehan- 
cex-y  court  of  the  county  to  appoint  a  com- 
mittee of  one  or  more  pei-sons  to  take  charge 
oi  any  person  who  ''y  the  habitual  or  excessive 
use  of  opium  or  liashcesh,  or  any  other  dnig, 
lias  become  incompetent  to  manage  himself  or 
estate.  The  fact  of  such  incompetency  must 
be  brought  before  the  eoiirt  by  affidavit  of  two 
or  more  respectable  persons?,  and  an  incpi^st 
must  be  held  by  jury  in  open  court  to  inquire 
into  the  fact.    The  committee  of  eustodv  and 


control  is  invested  with  the  power  to  confine 
such  person  in  any  pinvate  asylum  or  in  one 
of  tlie  lunatic  a.sylums  of  this  commonwealth. 
It  will  1)0  observed  that  tliis  act  specifies 
(ijiium,  hasheesh,  or  any  poisonous  drug,  but 
does  not  mention  by  name  alcohol  and  its 
preparations.  A  fair  and  scientific  construct- 
ion would  include  these:  yet  a  doubt  is  left, 
and  diffucuty  might  spring  up  if  any  ono 
chose  to  contest  tlie  point  and  insist  upon  a 
literal  interpretation  of  the  law.  Habitual 
and  inveterate  drunkenness  is  certainly  one 
of  the  forms  of  insanity.  It  is  a  condition  in 
which  the  will  is  under  the  master^'  of  the  pas- 
sion. It  is  recognized  by  the  best  authorities 
as  insanit}-,  and  has  received  the  names  of 
dipsomania  and  inomania.  The  interests  o** 
the  individual  and  of  the  entire  communit" 
would  be  advantageously  consulted  if  this 
\"iew  of  drunkenness  were  carried  into  prac- 
tical effect,  and  the  drimkard  made  amenable 
to  the  law  which  is  applied  to  the  ordinary 
lunatic.  Wliether  the  asylum  just  incorpor- 
ated be  one  merely  for  voluntary  confinement 
or  one  to  which  a  jui'v  may  send  any  proper 
subject,  Kentuck>-  has  led  the  advance,  as  far 
as  1  am  informed,  in  this  direction,  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  ^lississippi. 

It  is  a  creditable  fact,  reflecting  the  esti- 
i.'i;  te  in  which  Kentucky-  medicine  is  held  by 
thf^  profession  of  the  United  States,  that  our 
strte  has  directly  furnished  two  pi-esidents 
oi'  the  American  ^Medical  Association,  in  the 
I'evson  of  Drs.  Rpury  ^filler  aud  David  "W. 
Yandell.  and  indirectly  a  third  in  the  person 
of  .Or.  S.  T).  Gross,,  all  members  of  this  Society. 
Xo  member  of  the  profession  in  this  eoimtry 
has  received  more  honors  at  home  and  more 
foreign  decoi-ations  than  Dr.  J.  Lawrence 
Smith,  another  uiem.l'er  of  this  Society. 

The  establishment  of  a  new  school  in  1837, 
aud  of  several  others  at  later  dates,  led  to  im- 
portant results  in  the  histoiy  of  Kentucky 
medicine.  These  schools  have  been  the  means 
of  developing  and  bringing  into  more  con- 
sincuous  position  many  of  our  own  most  gift- 
ed pliysician.  and  have  invited  from  other 
places  some  of  the  :uost  eminent  pliysicians 
of  the  T'nited  States.  Amon?  the  former  may 
be  mentioned  Bush.  Peter,  Ethelbert  Dudley, 
:\Iiller.  Powell.  Hardin.  Richardson,  Bullitt, 
the  Yandells  Force.  Breckinridge.  Cummins, 
Bell.  Bemiss.  Bayless  aud  Bodine.  Among 
the  latter.  Bart  left.  Silliman,  J.  B.  Flint, 
Drake,  Cobb.  Colescott.  Austin  .  Flint,  Sr., 
F,ve,  Gross.  Palmer,  J.  La'WTenee  Smith  and 
^liddleton  Goldsmith.  Some  of  the  best  con- 
triluitors  to  .\merican  medicine  and  surgery 
were  made  by  several  of  these  genfleinen  while 
liiev  we'-e  connected  with  the  schools  of  Ken- 
tucky", and  these  may  be  fairly  considered  as 
belonging  to  the  medical  literature  of  our 
slate.  If  all  of  the  works  were  not  written 
here,  much  of  the  matter  which  gives  them  in- 


MEDICAL     PIONEELS     OF    KENTUCKY 


131 


terest  was  obtained  while  then-  authors  were 
connected  with  the  schools  and  hospitals  of 
Louisville.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the 
works  of  Gross,  Drake  and  Austin  Flint. 

Connected  with  the  schools  of  medicine- 
which  have  existed  in  Kentucky  many  remin- 
iscences of  men  and  things  arise  in  my  mind. 
Among  the  most  pleasant  of  these  is  my  recol- 
l>"Clion  of  Dr.  Wm  H.  Richardson,  so  long 
the  professor  of  obstetrics  in  Transylvania: 
]''ew  men  ever  had  nobler  traits  of  character. 
He  'was  w-arm-heartod,  brave,  and,  a  sincere 
friend.  I  knew  him  from  my  earliest  boy- 
hood, and  have  passed  many  happy  and  in- 
structive hours  at  his  magnnfieent  home  in 
J''ayette  county.  His  hospitality  was  profuse 
and  elegant.  I  listened  to  his  public  teach- 
ings as  a  professor  with  interest  and  care,  be- 
cause I  knew  that  he  taught  the  truth  as  far 
as  lie  possessed  it.  He  was  not  scholarlj^  nor 
graceful  aiid  flu.ent  as  a  lecturer ;  but  lie  was 
ardent  and  impressive,  sufSciently  learned  in 
his  special  branch,  and  had  at  his  i-eady  com- 
inand  a  large  stock  of  ripe  personal  experi- 
ence. I  honor  his  memory  beyond  that  of 
most  men  whom  I  have  known. 

]  have  often  recalled  with  wonder  the  su- 
preme satisfaction  with  which  I  looked  upon 
the  whole  science  and  art  of  medicine,  after 
listening  to  one  course  of  lectures  by  Dr.  John 
}]steu  Cooke,  for  so  many  years  the  venerable 
incumbent  of  the  Chair  of  Practice  in  Tran- 
sylvania, and  iu  the  University  of  Louisville. 
Few  teachers  ever  held  such  sway  over  the 
minds  of  intelligent  professional  men  as  Dr. 
Cooke,  over  the  entire  medical  mind  of  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi.  Every  one  entei'tained 
X^rofound  respect  for  his  great  intellect  and 
general  learning,  and  for  his  purity  of  char- 
acter and  honesty  of  pui^DOse.  His  theory  of 
medicine  was  peculiar  to  himself,  and  elabor- 
ated with  great  care.  It  seemed  to  be  built 
ii])CTi  an  impregnable  logic.  It  was  dogmatical- 
ly taught,  and  carried  captive  the  minds  of 
the  hundreds  of  young  men  who  listened  to 
his  positive  enunciations.  There  were  no 
graces  of  oratory  about  him,  yet  he  had  a 
subtle  way  of  infusing  the  poison  of  his  false 
doctrines  which  were  of  singular  simplicity 
and  universal  adaptedness.  The  practice  grow- 
ing out  of  them,  so  long  dominant  in  the 
South  and  West,  w^as  equally  simple  and 
adaptable.  Three  familiar  medicines  consti- 
tuted the  trinity  of  his  practical  creed. 
Quinine  and  opium  were  not  Imown  in  his  ma- 
teria medica.  With  the  retirement  of  Dr. 
Cooke,  in  1 844,  a  new  medical  era  commenced 
in  .the  wide  region  over  which  his  teachings 
so  lono-  prevailed ;  and  now  not  a  vestige  of 
either  his  theory'  or  practice  remains  except 
in  the  pages  of  his  book  and  in  the  minds  of 
a  few  of  the  ancient  members  of  the  profes- 
sion. 

Who  that  ever  saw  Dr.   Charles   Caldwell 


can  fail  to  have  a  living  remembrance  of  him? 
Who  that  ever  listened  to  Inm  as  a  teacher  can 
Jail  to  recall  with  admiration  the  great  intel- 
lect, the  varied  scholarship,  the  beauty  and 
l>ower  of  pen  and  the  polished  eloquence  of 
the  grand  old  man  ?  He  impressed  every  one 
by  the  stateliness  of  his  personal  appearance. 
He  looked  a  very  monarch,  as,  with  scepter 
waving  in  his  hand,  he  moved  majestically 
along. 

Dr.  Caldwell  was  largely  instrumental  in 
carrying  the  JMedical  Department  of  Ti-ansyl- 
vania  to  its  high  point  of  prosperity.  He  was 
one  of  the  great  levers  by  which  the  School  of 
Louisville  was  elevated  to  a  still  loftier  posi- 
tion. By  reason  of  certain  attractive  quali- 
ties, and  peculiar  powers  foreign  to  pure  med- 
ical teaching,  he  was  eminently  successful  as 
an  architect  of  medical  schools.  Despite 
these  facts,  the  truth  of  history  compels  the 
averment  that  he  was  never  a  teacher  of  true 
practical  medicine,  nor  of  that  kind  of  medic- 
al philosophy  Avhieh  Forms  the  useful  medical 
un'nd.  Tn  these  res'ards  he  has  not  left  »n 
enduring  record  in  the  annals  of  Kentucky 
iijedieino. 

Wliile  Dr.  Caldwell  was  yet  holding  a  con- 
spicuous place  as  a  medical  leacher  a  revolu- 
tion was  going  on  in  the  whole  science  of 
medicine.  Old  medicine  was  exniring  and 
new  medicine  t.ikinsr  its  plnce.  Before  the 
pressure  of  professional  oninion  created  bv 
this  revolution.  Dr.  Caldwell,  like  his  old  col- 
leas'ue.  Dr.  Cooke,  retired,  from  professional 
life  in  1849. 

Wlien  the  trustees  of  the  Louisville  Medical 
Institute  ^vere  orp'anizing  the  first  faculty,  in 
1S37.  Dr.  Caldwell,  the  chief  artitieer  of  the 
enterprise,  was  furnished  with  carte  hlanrhe. 
Kud  sent  on  a  mission  to  find  a  professor  of 
surgery.  A  careful  search  eventuated  iu  the 
selection  of  Dr.  Joshua  B.  Flint,  of  Boston, 
Ma.ss.  Dr.  Flint  was  a  a-raduate  of  the 
Academic  and  Medical  Department  of  Har- 
vRTd.  He  was  indorsed  to  Dr.  Caldwell,  bv 
the  best  men  of  Boston,  as  a  mature  and 
tliorough  senera!  find  mecf'sal  scholar,  as  a 
conservative,  skillful  surgeon,  and  as  an  ac- 
ceptable teacher.  He  was  tendered  the  chair  of 
suracry  in  the  institute,  accepted  it.  and  sun- 
dering bis  many  ties  iu  Boston  i^ame  to  Louis 
villf>  and  united  his  fortunes  with  our  school 
and  our  people.  The  impression  wdiich  h-^ 
made  upon  the  profe.ssion  in  Louisville  was 
favorable  in  the  highest  degree.  He  disclos- 
ed qualities  which  at  once  commanded  con- 
fidence and  re.spect.  He  was  ouiet  and  mod- 
est, avoidine-  rather  than  courtino-  conspicu- 
ous 7iotice.  His  fine  scholarship,  literarv  and 
professional,  made  itself  evident  to  all  ap-. 
]")reciative  observers.  He  was  not  ostentatious 
in  this  regard.  His  sound  judgment  as  a 
practitioner  of  -surgery,    and   his   rare   de~- 


182 


KEXTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOURNAL. 


terity  and  coolness  as  an  operator,  were  read- 
ily ]-eeognized.  In  the  field  of  operative  sur- 
geiy  he  was  distinguished,  beyond  all  other 
men  of  his  time,  for  his  conservatism.  ^Many 
litiilis  and  parts  were  saved  by  him  which 
would  have  been  lost  hy  less  considerate  sur- 
cons.  Tie  did  not  desire  the  eclat  which  great 
si;rgical  feats  elicit. 

As  a  teafher,  Dr.  Flint  came  forward  at  a 
time  when  medicine  and  medical  teaching 
were  in  a  transition  stage ;  when  mere 
theories  were  giving  place  to  facts,  and  things 
■wei'e  tanght  and  not  mere  speculations.  His 
style  was  quiet,  eminently  and  purely  didac- 
tic. He  was  not  a  declaimer,  had  no  ad  cap- 
idiuhim  arts,  said  nothing  for  effect  merely  or 
to  elicit  applause.  His  lectures  derived  their 
ornament  from  correct  rhetoric  and  classical 
illu-strations.  Tliey  were  never  soiled  by 
coarse  anecdote  or  indelicate  allusions.  He 
was  a  dignified  teacher  of  the  facts  and  truths 
of  a  serious  science.  He  did  not  seek  popular- 
ity with  his  classes.  He  hoped  to  win  their 
confidence  and  approval  by  giving  them  sound 
instruction.  Possibly  he  made  the  distance 
too  sreat  between  the  master  and  the  pupil. 
This  had  \wi  been  the  usage  in  this  wild  west- 
ern country.  Tt  was  so  in  the  place  of  his 
tdncation.  and  in  the  foreign  schools.  He  was 
kno\^ni  to  favor  the  use  of  the  professorial  cap 
and  gown. 

As  a  candidate  for  biisiness  before  the  piib- 
lic.  he  stood,  coldly,  upon  his  demeanor  as  a 
gentleman  and  his  real  merits  as  a  prac- 
titioner. He  had  no  arts  about  him  to  win 
popularity.  He  rather  repelled  than  attract- 
ed people.  He  was  punctiliously  careful  in 
his  intercourse  \\\\\\  the  patients  of  other  phy- 
sicians. Tn  this  relation  he  was,  as  Charles 
Ij(imb  said  of  his  Father,  "a  man  of  losing 
lionestv. "  Socially  no  man  was  more  charm- 
ing. Though  dry  and  not  much  of  a  talker 
generally,  on  festive  occasions  his  conversa- 
tion was  brilliant  and  his  wit  sparkling.  At 
a  dinner  or  "venine:  party,  among  cultivated 
])eoplp,  he  was  delightful. 

J  must  mention  one  other  quality  in  Dr. 
Flint.  To  his  sick  brethren  he  was  constant 
in  his  attentions,  aiding  them  by  his  wise 
couiisel  and  cheering  them  by  his  hopeful 
words.  Dr.  Flint  retired  from  the  institute 
at  the  close  of  his  third  course  of  lectures,  but 
was  reinstated  in  his  same  chair  after  the 
lapse  of  a  few  years. 

Dr.  Daniel  Drake,  thouerh  claiming  Cincin- 
Jiati  as  his  home  was  really  a  Kentucln'  phy- 
sician, having  passed  the  most  active  yeare  of 
his  life  in  our  state,  and  achieved  his  great 
fame  as  a  teacher  and  writer  while  connected 
with  our  schools.  It  is  unnecessary  to  detail 
his  brilliant  medical  historv.  It  is  known  to 
everv  one.  T  wish  to  mention  the  single  hon- 
orable fact  that  he  was  the  first  physician  of 
the  "West  ever  called  to  fill  an  important  chair 


in  an  eastern  medical  school.  In  1830  he  was 
appointed  professor  of  theory  and  practice  of 
medicine  in  the  Jefferson  ^ledical  College  of 
Philadelphia.  Dr.  ,S.  D.  Gross  was  appointed 
to  the  chair  of  surgezy  in  the  same  .school  at  a 
later  day  and,  as  far  as  I  now  rememl)er,  was 
the  second  western  man  thus  distinguished. 

As  the  intimate  personal  friend  and  fellow 
student  of  Dr.  Jas.  ~Si.  Bush,  1  had  the  oppor- 
tunity to  learu,  at  an  early  da.y;  the  genius  as 
an  artist,  the  quick  perceptive  faculties  and 
the  logical  qualities  of  mind  which  form  the 
basis  of  his  high  professional  reputation.  He 
was  a  student  first  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Alban 
Coldsmith.  and  then  in  that  of  Dr.  B.  W. 
Dudley.  He  won  the  high  regard  of  both  of 
these  eminent  men.  As  soon  as  he  graduated 
in  medicine  he  became  prosector  for  Dr.  Dud- 
ley, and  then  hi«  associate  in  the  practice  of 
surgery.  When  Dr.  Dudley  retired  from  teach- 
ing. Dr.  Bush  was  appointed  to  the  vacant 
chair,  and  discharged  its. duties  with  eminent 
ability.  When  Dr.  Dudley  retired  from  the 
field  of  his  brilliant  achievements  as  a  sur- 
geon, Dr.  Bush  liad  the  rare  courage  to  take 
possession  of  it.  Xo  higher  tribute  can  be 
paid  to  him  than  to  say  that  he  has  since  liPld 
possession  without  a  successful  rival. 

In  the  sciences  collateral  to  medicine  Ken- 
tucky has  played  a  distinguished  part.  In 
tlie  interesting  departments  of  botany,  geol- 
ogy, and  chemisti-y.  Dr.  Charles  Wilkins 
Short  and  Dr.  Kobert  Peter  are  known 
throughout  the  scientific  world.  As  teachers 
and  modest,  almost  shrinking  manner,  the 
seemingly  superb  dignity,  and  the  Addisonion 
style  of  the  one,  and  the  hicid  expositions  and 
brilliant  illustrations  of  the  other,  must  be 
r'-raembered  by  all  who  ever  listened  to  them. 

I  can  not  close  these  hasty  and  imperfect 
j'eminiscences,  so  unworthy  of  their  sub.iects 
■i\'ithout  the  mention  of  one  with  whom  I  had 
the  honor  to  be  upon  terms  of  personal  and 
professional  intimacy  for  more  than  thirty 
:\ears.  I  refer  to  Dr.  Llewellyn  Powell.  Dr. 
Powell  held  the  chair  of  obstetrics,  fii-st  in  the 
Kentuek>-  School  of  ^ledieine.  for  some  years, 
and  afterward  in  the. University  of  Louisville. 
In  both  he  was  recognized  as  an  able,  eloquent 
aiid  instructive  teacher.  He  gave  unqualified 
satisfaction  to  colleagues  and  pupils. 

There  are  two  classes  of  niedierd  teachei-s: 
tlie  one  professional,  trained  in  the  arts  of 
elocution  and  happy  illusti-ation.  studiously 
skilled  in  the  many  ways  of  putting  things: 
not  subordinating  matter  to  manner  wholly, 
but  relying  largely  upon  felicitous  modes  of 
presenting  their  siibjeets.  The  other  class  in- 
chules  phvsicians  of  mature  study  and  obsei'- 
vation,  who  have  accumulated  a  large  stock 
of  practical  knowledge  from  which  to  draw 
the  m.atter  of  their  teaching.  Out  of  the  fidl- 
ness  of  their  knowledge  the.v  are  teachers. 
The  graces  of  rlietorie  and  the  tricks  of  elo- 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL'S     OF    KENTUCKY. 


133 


culion  are  not  conspicuous  elements  of  their 
style.  Dr.  Powell  happily  blended  the  best 
qualities  of  both  of  these  classes.  By  nature 
he  was  wonderfidly  endowed  with  the  gift  of 
language.  Words  the  most  appropriate  were 
uttered  promptly  and  gracefully  at  the  bid- 
di]jg  of  every  thought.  Though  he  was  not 
trained  to  the  special  work  of  teaching,  he 
seemed  to  possess  the  happy  facility  of  the 
professional  teaeher.  With  such  a  manner  he 
was  prepared  to  impress  upon  his  pupils  with 
singular  effect  the  practical  knowledge  deriv- 
ed from  many  years  of  clinical  obsers'-ation. 

Dr.  Robert  J.  Breckinridge  was  reared  and 
educated  in  Louisville.  Of  a  distinguished 
family  and  singularly  pleasing  address,  grace- 
ful and  easy  as  a  speaker,  as  a  writer  forcible, 
pointed,  and  scholarly,  he  would  but  for  his 
isnlimely  death  have  plucked  the  highest  hon- 
oi's  in  the  profession. 

Dr.  Carey  H.  Fry.  an  original  member  of 
this  Society,  died,  on  the  5th  of  ilarch,  in  the 
city  of  San  Francisco.  He  was  present  and 
took  an  active  part  in  our  memorial  meeting 
of  1852.  He  was  with  us,  in  Louisville,  in 
1872,  with  undiminished  interest  in  our  pro- 
ceedings. Truth  warrants  and  personal  af- 
fection impels  me  to  say  that  he  was  the  peer 
of  the  highest  in  all  noble  qualities  of  charac- 
ter. He  was  a  refined  gentleman,  an  accomp- 
lished physician,  and  a  gallant  soldier. 

WhatcA^er  of  renown  the  University  of  Lou- 
isville may  have  acquired,  a  portion  of  it  is 
due  to  two  distinguished  members  of  another 
Ijrofession,  Hon.  John  Rowan  and  Hon. 
James  Guthrie.  Judge  Rowan  was  the  first 
president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  gave 
the  influence  of  his  national  name  to  the  foiin. 
dation  and  early  fortunes  of  the  school.  Mr. 
Guthrie  became  the  president  upon  the  death 
of  Judge  Rowan,  and  continued  so  until  the 
close  of  his  long  and  useful  life.  No  institu- 
tion ever  had  a  more  devoted  friend.  His 
fealty  to  it  never  faltered.  Amid  the  cares 
of  .state  and  a  large  professional  business,  he 
always  found  time  to  work  for  the  interests 
oi'  the  University.  Whatever  seemed  likely 
to  promote  these  interests  met  wth  his  warm 
approval :  whatever  opposed  them  was  sure  to 
meet  his  stern  and  inflexible  hostility.  His 
name  is  indissolubly  linked  with  an  interest- 
ing part  of  the  histoiy  of  Kentucky  medicine. 

The  medical  journalism  of  Kentucky  has 
alwaj^s  been  of  a  high  order.  Though  com- 
menced at  a  later  date  than  thai  of  her  sister 
state  of  Ohio,  Kentucky  was  in  advance  of  all 
other  states  of  the  valley.  The  Transylvania 
Journal  of  Medicine  and  the  Associate  Sciences 
as  the  first  .journal  published  in  Kentucky. 
It  dates  from  1828.  and  continued  to  be  the 
leading  journal  until  its  close,  in  1838.  Its 
successive  editors  were  Professors  John  Esten 
Cooke,  Charles  Wilkins  Short,  Luusford  P. 
Yaudell,  and  Robert  Peter.    The  next  was  the 


Louisville  Journal  of  Medicine,  in  1853,  edit- 
ed by  Professor  Henry  Miller.  L.  P.  Yandell, 
and  Dr.  T.  S.  Bell.  This  had  a  brief  existence. 
Then  came  the  Western  Journal  of  Medicine, 
and  Surgery,  edited  at  first  by  Profs.  Drake 
and  Yandell,  and  then  bv  Professors  Yandell 
and  T.  S.  Bell.  It  lived  from  1840  to  1855. 
The  Western  and  Southern  Medical  Recorder 
was  published  by  Dr.  James  Con(iuest  Cross, 
in  Lexington,  in  1841-2.  The  Kentucky 
Medical  Becorder,  a  continuation  of  the  Tran- 
sylvania Journal,  was  editer  by  Profs.  Henry 
iVl.  Bullitt  and  Robert  J.  Breckinridge,  in 
]  851-2,  in  Tiouisville.  Dr.  L.  J.  Frazee  edited 
a  semi-monthly  journal  called  the  Louisville 
Medical  Gazette,  in  1859.  Drs.  Bemiss  and 
Benson  published  the  Louisville  Medical 
Neirs,  in  1859-60.  The  Louisville  Revieiv,  ed- 
ited by  Gross  and  Richardson,  in  1856,  and 
the  Tjouisville  Mcdiccd  Journal,  by  Dr.  Cole- 
scott,  in  1860,  wore  short-lived.  The  Sanitary 
Reporter  was  published,  semi-monthly,  by  the 
United  States  Sanitarv  Commission,  in  Louis- 
ville, in  1863-4. 

A  distinguished  editor  of  the  first  journaJ 
of  Kentucky  still  survives,  in  the  full  vigor 
of  his  intellectual  powers,  and  is  yet  a  large 
contributor  of  his  mature  learning  and  experi- 
ence to  the  journalistic  literature  of  the  State. 
A  brilliant  and  instructive  teacher,  first  in 
Ti'ansjdvauia  and  then  in  the  University  of 
Louisville,  no  member  of  the  profession  in  the 
West  has  written  more  gracefully  and  power- 
fully than  Dr.  Lunsford  P.  Yandell.  No  Ken- 
tucky author  has  written  more  or  unon  a 
greater  variety  of  important  topics.  His  sci- 
entific reviews,  elaborate  monographs  upon 
various  subjects  of  medicine,  papers  upon 
geology  and  other  branches  of  natural  histor.y. 
his  introductorj'^  and  valedictory  addresses, 
aud  contributions  to  general  and  popular  lit- 
erature exceed  one  hundred  in  number.  Be- 
sides these,  I  can  not  omit  to  mention  a  most 
valuable  unpublished  report  made  to  this  So- 
ciety, in  1853,  upon  the  IMedical  liiterature  of 
Kentuek3^  It  is  a  work  of  exhaustive  re- 
search, and  an  accurate  index  to  the  papers  of 
all  the  writers  of  Kentucky.  It  should  be  con- 
tinued to  the  present  time,  and  published  by 
tliis  Society. 

The  two  journals  which  now  represent  this 
branch  of  medicine. in  Kentucky,  iliQAmerican 
Practitioner  and  the  Ei^hmond  and  Lovisvlll'^ 
Medical  Journal,  rank  among  the  ablest  of 
this  counti^^. 

In  a  community  which  has  founded  and  fos- 
tered so  many  gi'eat  medical  institutions,  true 
science  would  necpssarilv  always  command 
respect  and  confidence.  In  no  part  of  this 
eountiT  have  the  many  forms  of  qiiackery 
inet  with  so  little  encouragement.  Every- 
'Wbere,  of  course,  will  be  found  ianorauce,  cred- 
ulity, and  th«  other  w^eak  elements  upon 
which   medical    fungi   grow;    but    Kentucky 


lU 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOURNAL 


Jciay  be  justly  proud  of  her  remarkable  ex 
euiption  from  them. 

Time  aucl  .your  exhausted  patience  admon- 
ish me  that  I  must  bi-iua:  this  liistoi'ical  olla 
poflrkla  to  a  close.  I  trust  that  what  T  have 
said  may  sei've  to  add  sometliing  to  the  good 
]iauie  of  our  beloved  .state,  and  stimulate  us  to 
contribute  yet  more  to  the  renown  which  our 
illustrious  fathers  have  achieved  for  it. 

I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  as  to  the  work  of 
our  present  meeting.  "We  have  come,  many 
of  lis.  a  long  distance  to  do  this  work.  Ijet  us 
do  it  thoroughly  and  well.  Let  our  sessions 
be  devoted  to  scientific  business,  undisturbed, 
as  far  as  possible,  by  matters  which  can  not 
advance  the  interests  of  our  beneficient  call- 
ing, and  may  mar  the  usefulness  and  happi- 
ness of  our  annual  reunion.  I  have  a  hope 
that  this  meeting  may  he  signalized  by  the  dis- 
)iity  of  its  conduct  and  the  number  and  value 
of  its  contributions  to  medical  science. 


THE  :MF,DTCAI,  LITT^'RATURE  op  KEN- 
TUCKY.* 

By  LuNSFORD  p.  Yandell,  Sr..  M.  D., 
Louisville. 

I  have  undertaken,  in  compliance  with  the 
wishes  of  the  I\Iedieal  Society  of  Kentucky,  to 
\s'rite  a  history  of  the  ^.ledical  Literature  of  the 
State,  and  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  fol- 
lowing report  as  the  result  of  my  labors.  The 
I'tport  emliraces  a  period  of  seventy-five  years, 
and  refers  to  the  productions  of  more  than 
two  hundred  Kentucln'  physicians  who  have 
written  on  medicine.  It  is  conseciuently  long, 
and.  if  deemed  by  the  society  worthy  of  pub- 
lication, must  exteud  through  at  least  two  vol- 
umes of  its  Transactions.  lu  preparing  it 
two  plans  occurred  to  my  mind  :  one  to  pre- 
sent a  continuous  history  of  the  various  pub- 
lications as  they  appeared;  the  other  to  take 
up  the  several  authors  in  the  order  of  their 
api^earauee.  and  then,  having  introduced 
them,  to  follow  each  down  to  the  present  time 
or  1o  the  close  of  his  career.  The  latter  has 
been  adojited  as  having  upon  the  whole  most 
advantages,  and  this  notably  among  others, 
that  with  every  author  named  in  the  report 
will  be  seen  at  a  single  view  a  list  of  all  his 
w;'itings. 

The  report,  besides  notices  of  the  medical 
literature  of  Kentuck^^  embraces  some  ac- 
count of  the  origin  of  her  medical  schools, 
with  liiographical  sketches  of  a  number  of  her 
uiore  distinguished  medical  men.  In  collect- 
ing the  materials  for  it  my  chief  reliance  has 
been  upon  the  medical  journals  of  our  conn 
ti-y,  and  all  thesi>  have  been  examined  iu 
which  it  was  thought  anything  was  likely  to  be 
foimd  from  the  pens  of  Kentucky  physicians. 

*Koatl  iit  n  mppting  of  the  State  Medical  Society  at  Hen- 
derson    .\pril,    187.T. 


'I'he  transactions  of  our  .society  from  the  be- 
ginning and  those  of  the  American  Medical 
Association  have  also  been  consulted.  I  have 
sought  in  addition  to  gather  up  all  the  intro 
ductory  lectures  delivei-ed  in  our  niedical 
schools,  and  all  the  more  ephemeral  publica- 
tions not  contained  in  the  joui-nals  of  medii;- 
ijie.  The  reports  of  our  hospitals,  lunatic 
asylums,  institutions  for  the  blind  and  for 
deaf-mutes  have  also  been  referred  to.  The 
larger  and  more  elaborate  works  on  medicine 
have  received  due  attention,  and  in  addition 
to  all  I  have  had  recour.se  to  other  than  med- 
ic tl  books  for  some  facts  that  bear  upon  th- 
history  of  Kentuclcy  medicine.  But  with  all 
my  efforts  to  make  the  report  complete  I  can 
hardly  hope  that  many  omissions  M^ill  not  be 
found  in  it  which  more  time  and  greater  care 
might  have  prevented ;  and  still  le.ss  reason 
have  I  to  expect  that  my  readers,  however, 
courteous,  will  concur  in  all  the  judgments 
expressed  copcerning  nur  medical  writers  and 
their  Avorks.  On  the  latter  point  I  claim  only 
to  have  formed  these  judgments  candidly,  and 
without  any  feeling  of  which  I  am  conscious 
thi:t  would  tempt  me  to  do  injustice  to  any 
one.  Almost  nil  that  relates  to  the  medical 
schools  of  Kentucky  I  have  written  from  my 
own  recollection,  and  venture  to  hope  that  im 
account  of  them  will  be  found  free  from 
prejudice.  Whatevei'  were  the  controversies  ■ 
in  A\'hicn  1  bore  a  part  while  connected  wath 
those  institutions,  the  time  since  has  been  suf- 
ficient to  allay  all  the  animosities  they  en- 
kindled. 

On  an  impartial  review  of  the  labors  of  Ken- 
tuckv  physicians  and  surseous.  and  a  candid 
comparison  of  her  medical  literature  with 
that  of  her  sister  states,  I  believe  it  will  be  ad- 
mitted that  a  work  lias  been  performed  b^^ 
her  medical  profession  of  which  she  may  well 
feel  proud.  Hei'  gi-p,nt  physicians  and  surg- 
eons lose  nothing  by  comparison  with  the 
statesmen,  orators  and  soldiers  who  have  con- 
ferred luster  upon  her  name.  A  near  neigh- 
bor to  the  Sage  of  Ashland,  his  medical  coun- 
selor and  intimate  frieid.  lived  the  most  suc- 
cessful litholomist  of  his  times.  With  the 
hero  of  Buena  Vista  grew  up  to  manhood  iu 
1h(>  backwoods  of  Kentuclrs-  another  surgeon, 
to  whose  boldness  and  skill  the  woidd  is  in- 
debted for  ovaT'iotoray,  an  operation  which 
has  already  added  years  to  the  avei-age  dura- 
lion  of  life  in  women.  The  most  original  and 
elaborate  treat  i^p  on  medicine  by  an  American 
physician  is  from  the  pen  of  a  writer  who  was 
reared  in  Kentucky,  and  while  engaged  in  its 
preparation  was  a  teacher  in  one  of  her  med- 
ical schools.  One  of  the  most  comprehensive 
systems  of  surgery  in  our  language  was  writ- 
ten by  a  former  teacher  in  the  same  school; 
and  the  work  on  practice  which  stands  at  the 
head  of  American  medical  books  is  made  up 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY. 


1,35 


in  part  of  materials  collected  by  the  autlioi- 
■wiiile  a  teacher  of  medicine  in  Kentucky. 

Among  those  who  were  first  attracted  by 
evu'iosity  or  by  a  spirit  of  adventure  to  the 
wilds  of  Kentucky  were  two  physicians  whose 
names  have  come  down  to  us.  Dr.  Walker 
visited  the  ■  eastern  borders  of  the  state  as 
early  as  1747,  a  good  many  years  in  advance 
of  Daniel  Boone,  and  Dr.  Connolly  came  out 
in  1770,  only  a  year  after  the  great  pioneer. 
(,'oiinolly  was  one  of  the  company  which  laid 
out  the  plan  of  the  city  of  Louisville  in  1773, 
a  year  before  the  first  log  cabin  was  reared  by 
a  white  man  in  the  state.  These  hardy  ad- 
venturers came  and  saw  the  glories  of  our 
primeval  forests  and  our  fertile  lands,  but  left 
l)e!iind  them  no  history  of  their  observations 
or  adventures ;  and  but  little  further  is  known 
of  thorn  tlian  that  Connolly  became  a  tory  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  War- 
after  having  shared  in  the  confidence  of  Wash- 
ington was  captured  with  dispatches  on  his 
persoii  hostile  to  the  colonies,  and  cpnfined 
many  years  in  prison. 

The  medical  literature  of  Kentucky  dates 
back  a  few  months  beyond  the  beginning  of 
iJie  jjresent  century.  It  is  an  interesting  fact 
that  the  idea  of  originating  a  medical  school 
in  Kentucky  is  as  old  as  her  literature,  As 
eiirly  as  1799  the  Medical  Dejiartment  of 
Transylvania  University  was  partially  organ- 
i.^ed,  and  Dr.  Samuel  Brown  was  elected  to 
the  chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine 
and  Chemistrj'.  About  the  same  time  Dr. 
Frederick  Ridgely,  who  had  distinguished 
Iiiinself  as  a  surgeon  in  the  Revolutionary 
army,  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  in  the 
University  to  a  small  class  of  medical  stu- 
dents. To  this  dignified  and  worthy  pioneer 
of  the  profession  therefore  belongs  the  honor 
of  having  inaugurated  the  public  teaching  of 
medicine  in  Kentucky.  Dr.  Ridgely  was  a  pu- 
pil and  afterward  a  correspondent  of  Dr.  Rush, 
and  in  all  the  moral  elements  that  go  to  form 
a  good  physician,  as  well  as  in  general  scholar- 
ship and  medical  learning,  he  was  a  worthy 
jtnpil  of  his  illustrious  teacher. 

No  one  who  only  for  a  moment  turns  his 
mind  to  the  medical  literature  of  Kentucky 
can  fail  to  remark  how  great  an  influence  has 
been  exerted  over  it  from  the  beginning  by 
her  medical  schools.  It  originated  with  Dr. 
Samuel  Bro^vn,  who  was  also  first  to  receive 
an  appointment  in  the  earliest  organized 
school.  The  medical  .iournals,  which  have 
done  so  much  to  stimulate  professional  writ- 
ing, have  been  chiefly  sustained  by  our  schools 
of  medicine. 

About  the  time  that  Dr.  Brown  was  made  a 
professor  in  Transylvania  University  he  be- 
came a  writer  for  the  medical  press.  The  first 
medical  paper  from  the  pen  of  a  Kentucky 
pliysician  that  I  have  been  able  to  trace  is  one 
written  bv  him  for  the  American  Medical  Be- 


pository,  at  that  time,  I  believe,  the  only 
journal  of  medicine  published  in  the  United 
States.  It  bears  date  of  June,  1799,  and  is 
contained  in  the  fourth  volume  of  that  jour- 
nal. In  the  same  volume  is  the  report  of  a 
case  by  Dr.  Brown,  dated  November,  1800,  to- 
gether with  a  second  one  of  a  later  date;  and 
these  are  followed,  in  svibsequent  numbers,  by 
other  medical  histories,  which,  as  possessing 
an  inherent  interest,  as  'well  as  being  matters 
of  curiosity  at  this  day,  I  shall,  notice  in  de- 
tail. 

Dr.  Brown,  the  father  of  our  medical  liter- 
ature, was  in  every  respect  a  remarkable  man. 
In  person  he  was  much  above  the  ordinary 
size  of  men,  as  well  as  pleasing  and  commancl 
ing.  He  was  of  a  noble  aspect,  and  his  man- 
ners were  in  keeping  with  his  presence.  High- 
ly gifted  by  nature,  his,  fine  parts  were  set  off 
by  all  the  advantages  of  education.  A 
scholar,  with  a  quick,  observant  mind,  enlai-g- 
ed  and  polished  by  intercourse  with  the 
world;  witty,  fluent  in  speech,  fvill  of  gener- 
al knowledge  and  anecdote  gathered  from  ex- 
tensive travel,  he  was  fitted  to  shine  as  a  lec- 
turer; and  if  necessity  or  taste  had  turned  his 
attention  seriously  to  the  practice  of  medicine, 
as  a  physician  he  might  have  attained  to  the 
highest  rank.  But  with  all  his  powers  and 
varied  accoraplishments  he  was  not  a  success- 
ful teacher,  nor  for  many  years  did  he  take 
any  serious  part  in  the  practice  of  medicine. 
His  mind  was  a  discursive  one,  and  he  could 
not  brook  the  drudgery  of  his  profession.  He 
was  a  desultory  rather  than  a  severe  student, 
and  was  always  captivated  by  novelty,  at  the 
same  time  his  strong  common-sense  saved  him 
from  the  wild  philosoijhy  which  pervaded 
some  of  the  schools  of  medicine  in  his  day. 

Dr.  Brown  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  on 
his  mother's  side  was  descended  from  John 
Preston,  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  to  whom  so  many 
gifted  men  of  the  South  trace  their  lineage. 
He  was  sent  to  Edinburgh  to  complete  his 
medical  education,  and  heard  the  lectures  of 
Monroe,  Bell  and  Black,  where  sat  beside  him 
fellow-students  from  America ;  Hosack  of 
New  York,  Davidge  of  Baltimore,  and  Mc- 
Dovvell  of  Kentucky.  He  was  wont  to  relate 
to  his  classes  in  Lexington  that  three  of  the 
young  Americans  resolved  among  themselves 
to  become  teachers  of  medicine  on  their  re- 
turn home.  The  idea,  he  told  us,  seemed  pre 
posterons  to  the  students  of  the  old  coiintry, 
find  the  Americans  were  not  a  little  ridiculed 
for  their  lofty  designs.  "But,"  he  continued, 
"we  were  not  to  be  laughed  out  of  our  pro- 
jects, and  in  a  little  while  after  his  return 
Hosack  was  announced  a  professor  in  his  na- 
tive city,  and  Davidge  was  at  work  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  University  of  Maryland.  I 
was  appointed  a  professor  in  this  young  Uni- 
versity, but  the  chair  proved  to  be- a  barren 
scepter  in  my  hand.    After  many  years  a  new 


136 


KENTUCKY    MEDlt'AT.     JOVKXAL. 


organization  was  effected,  in  which  my  name 
(lid  not  appear.  But  the  enterprise  failed; 
The  professors  disagreed,  got  into  contro- 
versies, aspersed  one  another  in  acrimonious 
pamphlets,  and  the  faculty  was  broken  up.  A 
iv^'W  attempt  was  made,  and  my  long-cherish- 
ed vision  was  at  last  j-ealize^.  I  found  myself, 
after  so  long  a  time,  in  a  flourishing  mediea) 
school. ' ' 

]5ut  as  he  adhered  long  to  no  system  of 
medicinC;  so  he  soon  grew  tired  of  the  business 
of  teaching,  and  in  five  years  relinquished  the 
place  in  the  school  for  which  he  had  waited 
so  long.  Dr.  Caldwell,  the  most  scholarly  of 
his  colleagues,  on  account  of  this  readiness  to 
embrace  new  theories  and  sj'stems,  pursue 
them  eagerly  for  a  little  while  and  then  aban- 
don them  for  something  newer,  was  in  the 
habit  of  compai'ing  him  to  a  'cur-dog  hunting 
rabiiits. '  He  certainly  was  wedded  to  no  doc- 
trine in  medicine.  Of  none  could  be  ever 
have  said,  with  the  gi'eat  Hunter,  that  "he 
would  never  give  them  up  till  he  gave  up  the 
ghost."  His  anecdotes,  -which  he  told  in  the 
happiest  manner,  formed  the  most  attractive 
featu7-e  of  his  lectures,  or  at  least  the  parts 
which  T  find  clinging  most  tenaciously  to  my 
memory.  One  in  particular  I  remember  re- 
laied  in  his  valedictory  address  to  his  class  in. 
1824.  "I  knew  a  professor  in  Edinburgh," 
he  said,  "who  from  repeated  dislocations  of 
his  lower  jaw  was  liable  to  that  accident  every 
time  he  yawned.  On  account  of  liis  infirmity 
it  beeam.e  necessary  to  take  with  him  constant- 
ly' a  servant  who  had  learned  the  art  of  re- 
ducing the  dislocation.  His  students  soon 
came  to  undertsand  the  case,  and  when  at  any 
ijiue  the  professor  grew  tedious,  thej'  had  only 
1o  set  up  a  general  yawning  to  e.xcite  the  same 
i>iovement  in  him,  whereupon,  before  he 
thought  of  it,  his  jaw  would  iiy  out  of  place, 
and  while  his  servant  was  at  woi'k  setting  it 
they  would  hurry  out  of  his  room,  pretending 
to  think  file  lecture  was  over.  No  doubt,  aen- 
tlemen,  he  continued,  with  a  pathos  that  af- 
fected the  most  thoughtless  of  his  pupils, 
you  would  have  been  glad  many  a  time  this 
winter  if  you  could  have  exerted  the  same  con- 
trol over  m,y  jaw." 

Like  nearly  all  great  men,  Dr.  Brown  was 
natural  in  manner  and  simple  in  his  tastes, 
as  far  as  possible  removed  from  that  pedanti-j- 
aiul  pomposity  that  all  at  one  time  seemed 
characteristic  of  medical  men.  The  follow- 
ing incident  is  illustrative  of  this  pleasing 
trait  in  )iis  character.  He  had  been  "called  to 
see  a  sick  cliild  in  consultation  with  a  leading 
practitioner  of  Lexington,  and  among  the 
nveasures  agreed  upon  was  a  warm  foot-bath. 
i-e;urning  to  the  chamlier  of  the  little  patient 
the  physician  in  attendance  proceeded  to  give 
directions  to  the  moth(>r  in  terms  somewhat 
like  these:  "You  will  immerse  the  lower  ex- 
tremities of  your     infaiit     in  tepid     water. 


iuadam,  and  subsequently  use  friction  freely 
v.ith  a  napkin."  The  mother  was  lost  in  the 
succession  of  long  words  and  i-aised  her  eyes 
in  bewilderment.  Dr.  Brown  saw  her  em- 
barrassment.  and  hastened  to  relieve  her  by 
saying,  "Bathe  your  child's  feet  and  legs  in 
warm  water,  mj'  good  ■woman,  and  wipe  them 
dry  with  a  towel." 

The  crowning  labor  of  Dr.  Brown's  life, 
from  which  he  expected  the  happiest  results, 
was  the  formation  of  a  society  designed  to  pro- 
mote harmony  among  the  memljers  of  the  pro- 
fession. He  styles  it  the  Kappa  Lambda  As- 
sociation, ft  jiicluded  among  its  members 
many  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  in  our 
country.  Dr.  Brown  was  its  president,  and  it 
was  his  purpose  to  devote  the  evening  of  his 
days  to  visiting  the  branch  societies  in  the 
towns  and  cities  of  the  Union,  thus  cultivating 
the  social  relations  of  physicians.  He  resign- 
ed his  chair  in  1825,  and  died  near  Hunts- 
ville,  Alabama,  on  the  12th  of  Januaiy   1830. 

Dr.  Daniel  Drake  succeeded  to  the  chair  of 
Theory  and  Practice  in  the  Fniversitv.  He 
had  been  connected  with  the  efforts,  in  1817, 
to  form  a  medical  school  iy  Lexington.  His 
associates  T\ere  Drs.  Dudley,  Richardson,  Over- 
toji,  and  Blythe.  The  enterprise  failed,  and 
the  faculty  was  disorganized  at  the  close  of 
the  first  session ;  Overton  returning  to  Nash- 
ville a  good  deal  disgusted  with  medical 
schools,  and  Drake  returning  to  Cincinnati  to 
establish  one  in  that  city.  The  feuds  th;it 
led  to  the  disruption  resulted  in  a  bitter  per- 
sonal controversy  which  was  carried  on  for  a 
time  in  pamphlets,  and  ended  in  a  duel  be- 
tween Dudley  and  Richartlson.  Dj'ake  was  al- 
ready an  author  before  his  first  connection 
Avith  the  FniversitA',  and  as  such  was  known 
beyond  the  boiinds  of  his  own  countiy.  His 
"I'icture  of  Cincinnati"  had  given  him  a  repu- 
tation among  scientific  men  in  Euroi^e.  With 
the  circular  letter  announcing  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  Lexington  school  came  from  him 
to  us  in  Tennessee  a  prospectus  of  the  Ohio 
Medical  College,  setting  forth  its  claim  to 
public  patronage.  With  his  indomitable  will 
and  perseverence  he  had  procured  a  charter 
for  a  school  of  medicine  in  Cincinnati.  The 
gifted  anatomist,  Godman,  was  associated 
with  him:  but  he  was  doomed  to  a  second  dis- 
appointment, for  Godman.  after  a  year  or  two, 
became  discouraged  and  resigned  his  profes- 
sorship. Two  other  colleagues  became  i-efrac- 
tory  and  conspired  against  him.  In  his  char- 
ter he  had  unwisely  placed  the  governing 
po-wer  of  the  college  in  the  hands  of  the  pro- 
fessors, and  when  dissensions  arose  in  the 
faculty  there  was  no  umpire  to  settle  them. 
Having  the  appointing  power,  they  claimed 
also  the  right  to  expel  an  obnoxious  member. 
Dr.  Drake  was  president  of  the  factulty,  and 
would  at  anv  time  after  the  first  vear  or  two 


MEDICAL    PIONEEm     OF     KENTUCKY. 


137 


have  cheerfully  accepted  the  resignation  ol; 
his  colleagues,,  but  being  in  the  minority  he 
could  not  force  them  to  resign.  After  God- 
luan  gave  up  his  place  but  thx'ee  professors 
remained;  Jesse  Smith,  Elijah  iSlack  and 
Dj-ake.  Things  went  on  from  bad  to  worse, 
ujitil  the  majority  made  up  their  minds  to  get 
rid  of  the  difficulties  by  expelling  the  presi- 
dent. A  meeting  of  the  faculty  was  accord- 
ingly called.  The  president  had  no  right  to 
decline  taking  part  in  it,  and  at  the  appointed 
liour  appeared  in  his  seat.  A  motion  was 
made  by  Prof.  Smith  that  Prof.  Drake  be  ex- 
pelled form  his  chair  in  the  Ohio  Medical  Col- 
lege. It  was  duly  seconded  by  Prof.  Slack, 
and  the  president  put  it  to  vote.  There  were 
two  votes  in  the  affirmative,  and  the  chair 
having  no  right  to  vote  except  in  case  of  a  tie, 
the  president  gravely  announced  that  "Pro- 
f(?ssor  Drake  was  unanimously  expelled  from. 
t)ie  Ohio  Medical  College;"  and  Dr.  Slack 
taking  up  the  only  candle  in  the  room  where 
tliis  scene  was  being  enacted  conducted  the 
extruded  professor  down  stairs. 

in  October,  the  same  year,  I  met  Dr.  Drake 
in  Lexington,  whither  I.  had  repaired  to  at- 
tend my  first  course  of  lectures.  He  had  re- 
turned to  Transylvania  again,  chastened  by 
defeat  and  with  powers  enlarged  by  experi- 
ence. I  saw  him  take  the  oath  of  office  admin- 
istered to  the  professors  in  the  University, 
and  heard  his  Latin  oration  when  inducted 
into  office.  For  colleagues  he  had  Caldwell. 
Brown,  Dudley.  Richardson  and  Blythe.  I 
know  that  large  deductions  must  be  made  for 
first  impressions  on  an  ardent  youthful  mind. 
Much  of  the  enthusiasm  excited  by  new  men 
and  strange  scenes,  I  am  aware,  is  to  be  set 
down  to  the  charm  of  novelty ;  but  my  con- 
viction is  still  strong,  after  the  lapse  of  these 
fifty  years,  that  I  have  never  seen  in  any 
medical  school  a  more  splendid  combination 
of  talent  than  adorned  Transylvania  Uni- 
versity at  that  day.  Caldwell,  in  all  the  per- 
sonal and  intellectual  qualities  that  strike  the 
eye  and  the  ear  in  a  lecturer,  has  rarely  been 
ecjualed  by  a  teacher  of  medicine.  Though  al- 
ready advanced  in  years,  he  retained  all  the 
fire  and  vigor  of  early  manhood.  His  spirits 
were  buoyant  and  his  temper  sanguine,  and 
whether  on  the  rostrum  or  in  his  study,  his  air 
was  that  of  a  man  who  was  doing  his  best. 
During  the  mnter  Drake  engaged  him  in  a 
debate  on  the  question  of  spontaneous  genera- 
tion. He  affirmed  the  truth  of  the  doctrine, 
and  adduced  many  facts  to  prove  that  acorns 
] night  be  developed  in  the  earth  and  fish  in 
miiiponds.  Drake  overwhelmed  him  by  au- 
thorities to  the  contrary,  and  out  of  a  class 
nTimhering  two  hundred  canned  nearly  every 
student  with  him. 

Dr.  Drake  was  in  the  habit  of  saying  that 
"he"  had  resigned  more  professorships  and 
been  oftener     expelled     than     any  medical 


teacher  in  the  United  States."  His  appoint- 
ments amounted  to  not  less  than  ten,  and  he 
was  connected  with  five  scJiools,  two  of  which 
were  his  own  projecting.  It  is  significant  that 
from  his  first  effort  in  Lexington  down  to  his 
last  winter  iji  the  University  of  Louisville,  as 
often  as  he  came  to  Kentucky  he  found  relief 
from  pecuniary  pressure,  and  with  this  also 
comparative  peace  and  tranquility  of  mind; 
and  that  as  often  as  he  returned  to  his  loved 
Cincinnati  it  was  only  to  encounter  jealousy 
and  failure. 


DOCTOR  WALTEU,  BRASHBAR.* 
P>y  M.  F.  CooMES,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Louisville. 

' '  So  fleet  the  works  of  men  back  to  their  earth 

again, 
That    ancient    and    holy    things    fade   like    a 

dream. ' ' 

In  telling  this  story  of  Dr.  Brashear's 
great  work,  and  being  able  by  accident  to  pro- 
duce a  likeness  of  him  with  it,  forcibly  recall- 
ed to  my  mind  the  fact  so  beautifully  express- 
ed in  the  lines  at  the  head  of  this  page.  It  is 
trae  that  the  works  of  men  live  long  after 
their  mortal  bodies  have  "given  up  the 
ghost,"  but  in  these  modern  times  it  is  a 
pleasure  to  resurrect  from  the  ruins  of  the 
past,  as  it  were,  the  likeness  of  some  great 
man  that  had  been  lost  to  the  world,  and  re- 
store him  to  the  place  where  he  properly  be- 
longs. I  always  had  a  great  desire  to  see  the 
face  of  Dr.  Brashear,  and  never  let  an  oppor- 
tunity pass  if  I  thought  there  was  a  chance  to 
find  a  picture  of  him.  Persistence  in  this  in- 
stance proved  valuable.  Mrs.  Guthrie,  a  niece 
of  D]'.  Brashear's  called  on  me  for  advice  con- 
cerning her  eyes,  and  while  discussing  the 
operation  that  was  to  be  done,  not  knowing 
Avhile  we  were  talking  that  she  was  Dr.  Brash- 
ear's niece,  she  remarked  that  her  uncle  was 
a.  great  surgeon.  I  at  once  wanted  to  know 
who  tlie  uncle  was,  aud  of  course  was  delight- 
ed to  have  the  niece  of  so  distinguished  a  man 
for  my  client.  I  expressed  regret  that  some 
likeness  of  Dr.  Brashear  had  not  been  left,  as 
I  had  always  wanted  to  see  what  kind  of  a 
looking  man  he  was;  and  was  sure  that  a 
large  proportion  'if  the  medical  profession 
shared  this  desire  with  me.  "When  Mrs. 
Guthrie  told  me  she  had  a  likeness  of  her 
uncle,  m.y  cup  was  full  to  overflowing,  and  I 
did  not  rest  until  I  had  it  in  my  possession, 
and  in  truth,  in  the  hands  of  the  photog- 
rapher, and  finally  in  the  hands  of  the  finish- 
ing artist ;  and  now  that  I  have  succeeded  in 
reclaiming  the  image  of  this  illustrious  m.an, 
and  in  giving  the  profession  some  additional 
facts  about  him  that  have  heretofore  been 
unknown  to  the  priblic,  I  feel  that  I  have  been 

♦Reprint  from  the  Louisville  Medical  Monthly,  March,  1894. 


IMS 


KENTTJCKY     MEDK  AL     JOrUNAL. 


full>-  i-p])aid  for  my  long  aud  diligent  search, 
Itucause  I  know  that  the  profession  all  over 
tlie  world  will  rejoice  at  having  an  opportun- 
ity to  critically  view  the  face  of  this  distin- 
guished surgeon,  and  read  in  its  outlines  the 
truth  of  what  has  been  said  of  him. 

Dr.  Walter  Brashear.  the  sub,ieet  of  this 
siceteh,  was  horn  in  iMaryland  in  1776.  and  hi.s 
father  moved  to  Kentucky  in  1784  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  in  Bullitt  County,  near 
Shepherdsville.  Walter  was  the  seventh  son, 
and  according  to  tradition,  was  intended  for 
a  doctor.  His  father  seems  to  have  been  mind- 
ful of  this  fact,  and  sent  him  to  Transjdvania 


delphia  and  attended  upon  a  cour.se  of  lee- 
tiu'cs  at  the  T^'niversity  of  Peiuisylvania. "  At 
that  time,  Barton,  Physiek  and  Rush  illumin- 
ated the  medical  horizon  of  the  East  and  were 
connected  with  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  no  doubt  but  .young  Brashear  was 
deepl.v  impressed  with  the  greatness  of  thi.s 
trio  of  medical  savants,  for  in  these  three  was 
fonnrl  all  that  go  to  make  up  a  great  surgeon 
and  doctor;  and  Brashear  was  cei'tainly  the 
personifieation  of  phy.siician  and  surgeon,  as 
his  modest  but  remarkable  career  will  s'.iow. 

Dr.  Brashear  was  of  a  restless  disposition, 
and  after  a  year    spent  in    Philadelphia,  he 


DOCTOR   WALTER  BRASHEAR 

1776-1860 

United  States  Senator  from  Louisiana. 


University  at  Lexington,  then  the  gi,'eat  liter- 
ai-y  institution  of  the  Southwest 

Young  Walter  was  eager  for  knowledge, 
and.  we  ai'e  told,  held  a  high  rank  as  a  Latin 
scholar.  .After  finishing  his  literary  education. 
\\-hich  was  at  the  age  of  twenty-,  he  began  to 
read  medicine  under  the  tiitelage  of  Dr.  Fred- 
crick  TJidsely.  of  Lexington,  and  remained 
under  his  care  for  two  .%  ears,  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time,   "he  rode  on   horseback  to  Phila- 


shipped  to  China  as  surgeon  of  a  vessel. 
While  there  he  was  consulted  by  one  of  the 
dignitaries  of  the  Floweiw  Kingdom,  concern- 
ing his  wife  who  had  a  cancerous  brea.st.  He 
assui'ed  his  celestial  friend  that  he  could  re- 
move the  breast  and  that  it  would  result  in 
giving  the  woman  relief.  The  opei-ation 
having  been  finished,  Dr.  Brashear  started  to 
leave  the  iialact>.  but  was  halted  at  tho  door 
and   told   that   he   could  not  leave   for  three 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL'S     OF     KENTUCKY. 


139 


days.  The  American  did  not  comprehend 
This,  but  was  given  to  understand  that  if  the 
woman  died  inside  of  three  days,  that  he 
would  be  beheaded.  This  was  evidently  a  part 
of  the  programme  that  had  been  kept  back, 
but  as  there  was  no  other  alternative,  he  re- 
iiuiined  the  three  days,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  his  patient  was  doing  well  and  he  was 
permitted  to  go. 

Probably  no  man  living  was  better  prepar- 
ed to  hear  this  ultimatum  than  Dr.  Brashear, 
I'or  the  man  who  had  the  courage  to  undertake 
the  amputation  at  the  hip-joint  in  the  month 
of  August,  in  Kentucky,  without  any  prece- 
dent to  guide  him.  no  anesthetic  and  with  un- 
trained assistants,  certainly  had  coiirage  to 
to  do  auj'thing.  In  the  first  part  of  this  paper, 
I  have  quoted  liberally  from  an  address  de- 
livered by  Prof.  David  W.  Yandell  in  1890, 
before  the  American  Medical  Association,  aiu] 
I  can  not  do  better  than  to  use  his  language  in 
reporting  the  work  of  Dr.  Brashear.  He  says  : 
"In  1806,  the  earliest  original  and  successful 
surgical  work  of  any  magnitude  done  in  Ken- 
tucky, by  one  of  her  own  sons,  was  an  ampu- 
tation at  the  hip-joint.  It  proved  to  be  the 
first  of  the  kind  not  only  in  the  United  Stat(!s 
l)nt  in.  the  world.  The  undertaking  was  made 
necessary  because  of  extensive  fracture  of  the 
thigh  with  great  laceration  of  the  soft  parts. 
The  subject  was  a  mulatto  boy,  seventeen 
years  of  age.  a  slave  at  St.  Joseph's  College. 
The  time  was  August,  1806;  the  place  Bards- 
town;  the  surgeon,  Dr.  Walter  Brashear;  the 
assistants.  Dr.  Burr  Harrison  and  Dr.  John 
Goodtell ;  the  result,  a  complete  success.  The 
operator  divided  his  work  into  stages.  The 
^Irst  consisted  in  amputating  the  thigh 
through  its  m.iddlethird  in  the  usual  way,  and 
in  tying  all  bleeding  vessels.  The  second  con- 
sisted of  a  long  incision  of  the  outside  of  the 
limb,  exposing  the  remainder  of  the  bone, 
which  being  freed  from  its  muscular  attach- 
ments, was  then  disarticulated  at  its  socket." 
Thus  briefly  detailed,  is  an  account  of  one  of 
the  gTeatest  surgical  operations  performed  in 
tlie  civilized  world,  and  Dr.  Yandell,  in  his 
report,  says:  "But  whether  or  not  Brashear 
had  ever  heard  or  read  a  description  of  what 
had  been  accomplished  in  this  direction  by 
surgeons  elsewhere,  the  .young  Kentuckian 
was  the  first  to  amputate  at  the  hip  joint  in 
America,  and  tlie  first  to  do  the  real  thing  suc- 
cessfully in  the  world.  Dr.  Brashear  seems  to 
liave  set  no  high  estimate  of  his  achievement, 
and  never  published  an  account  of  the  case." 

Ex-Governor  Robert  Wickliffe,  of  Louisi- 
ana, who  is  a  near  relative  of  Dr.  Brashear 's, 
is  my  authority  for  the  facts  concerning  his 
imprisonment  in  China  at  the  time  that  the 
am])utation  '^f  the  breast  was  performed  and. 
(Governor  Wickliffe  also  told  me  that  Dr. 
Brashear  was  offered  the  "Chair  of  Surgery" 
in  the  Academv  of  Science  at  Paris,  France. 


His  wife,  who  was  exceedingly  anxious  to 
Jiave  him  accept  the  position,  was  much  sur- 
in-ised  to  hear  him  say  that  he  would  not 
think  of  accepting  it,  as  it  was  bad  enough  to 
live  in  Paris  under  any  circumstances,  much 
less  to  occupy  the  position  of  a  poor  doctor. 

Dr.  Brashear  was  not  without  political  as- 
pirations, and  it  would  appear  that  he  was 
iiLuch  above  the  average  politician,  as  he  suc- 
ceeded in  being  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  from  Louisiana. 

Dr.  Brashear 's  boyhood  was  probably  not 
without  some  very  exciting  experience,  for 
at  that  time  this  country  was  full  of  Indians, 
and  his  father  was  a  noted  Indian  fighter. 

Dr.  T.  B.  Greenly,  of  West  Point,  Ky.,  told 
me  a  few  days  since  that  he  attended  Dr. 
Brashear 's  brother,  Robert,  in  his  last  illness, 
some  years  since,  and,  while  speaking  of  the 
matter,  recalled  an  incident  that  happened  at 
the  Salt  Works,  which  were  owned  and  oper- 
ated by  Dr.  Brashear 's  father,  Ignacius 
Brashear.  The  Doctor  and  his  brother  were 
boys  that  were  not  to  be  run  over  by  every 
fellow  that  clianced  to  pass,  and.  in  fact,  were 
no  led  as  fighters.  In  those  good  old  times,  the 
weapons  that  God  gave  men  were  about  all 
that  were  used  to. settle  personal  difficulties, 
and  it  seems  that  Walter  and  Robert  Brashear 
knew  how  to  use  them.  On  a  certain  occasion 
a  "bully"  happened  to  he  in  the  Brashear 
neighborhood,  and  concluded  he  would  go  up 
and  w^hip  the  two  Brashear  boys,  and  when  he 
arrived  he  found  Walter  at  the  Salt  Works  by 
I'.iiiiself,  and  it  did  not  take  long  for  him  to 
pick  a  quarrel  wdth  young  Brashear.  Brash- 
ear, however,  felt  tliat  the  stranger  had  the 
best  of  him  in  size,  and  probably  in  the 
"fistic-art"  he  would  have  little  chance,  but 
lie  determined  to  get  the  best  of  his  antagon- 
ist and  get  the  first  lick,  and  other  advantages 
also  if  they  were  to  be  had.  There  was  a 
jtond  near  by,  and  at  a  favorable  moment 
when  the  stranger  stepped  near  the  pond, 
Robert  sent  out  a  right-hander  and  lancled  it 
under  his  ear,  which  sent  him  sprawling  into 
the  pond,  and  quicker  than  thought  Brashear 
was  on  top  of  liira,  and  in  a,  short  time  the  fel- 
low was  crying  for  mercy. 

Dr.  Brashear  was  married  at  Lexington,  in 
1802,  to  Miss  Margaret  Barr,  by  whom  he 
had  seven  children  :  three  sons,  RolDcrt,  Walter 
and  Darwin,  and  four  daughters.  Mary,  Re- 
becca, Caroline  and  Frances.  I  have  no  his- 
lory  of  any  of  his  daughters,  save  one,  who  is 
living  in  New  Jersey.  None  of  his  sons  ever 
became  doctors.  Darwin  died  young,  and 
Robert  was  a  successful  sugar  planter  in 
Louisiana,  and  died  during  the  late  war.  His 
son,  Walter,  a  grandson  of  the  doctor,  is  now 
iu  Louisiana. 

The  Brashear  home  in  which  he  was  reared 
is  still  standing  in  Bullitt  County,  in  a  fair 


40 


KEXTUCKY    METHi'M.     .JOURXAL. 


state  of  preservation.  Dr.  Walter  Brashear 
(lied  October  the  23rd.  1S60.  aged  eighty-four 
years,  and  is  resting-  iu  the  soil  of  his  adopted 
State,  Louisiana. 


DOCTOR  JOSHTLl  TAYLOR  BRADFORD. 

By  W.  W.  AxDERSOx,  M  D.,  Newport. 

In  writing  the  biography  of  a  modest  man 
many  years  after  his  death  one  is  beset  "irith 
serions  difficulty  because  of  the  scarcity  of 
data.  The  modest  man  however  great  his 
worth  and  however  important  his  work,  does 
not  thrnst  himself  into  the  limelight  of  pub- 


ihat  its  meager  offering  maj'  call  forth  from 
the  memory  of  those  still  living  a  richer  and 
more  intimate  history  of  this  remarkable  man. 
^rcDowell's  great  woi'k  had  not  succeeded 
iii  establishing  ovariotomy  as  a  proper  sur- 
gical procedure.  It  had  barely  blazed  the 
way  and  few  had  dared  to  walk  therein  and 
mcst  of  these  few  had  trodden  upon  disaster. 
The  groat  schools  of  T^ondon.  Edinburgh  and 
J'aris  to  which  the  American  profession  look- 
ed for  inspiration  and  authority  condemned 
the  operation.  Sui'geons  turned  deaf  ears  to 
the  distressed  cry  of  the  unhapp.y  sufferers 
with  ovarian  tumor  and  disease  and  abandon- 


DOCTOR  JOSHUA  TAYLOR  BRADFORD 


Who  revived  ovariotomy  after  it  had  fallen  into  disuse  in  the  middle  of  the    last 
century,  and  was  a  distinguished  medical  officer  in  the  Civil  War. 


licity.  ^Inch  of  what  he  was  and  what  he  did 
are  likely  to  be  lost  in  the  lapse  of  the  years. 
"Were  the  character  and  labors  of  the  late 
Dr.  Joshua  Taylor  Bradford  of  Augusta,  so 
to  fade  into  oblivion  an  irreparable  loss  will 
have  been  sustained.  That  the  honor  of  Ken- 
tucky iriedicine  and  the  glory  of  its  great 
achievements  be  not  dimmed  by  forgetfiiluess 
this  biographical  sketch  is  indited  iu  the  hope 


ed  them  to  their  fate.  It  required  a  man  of 
L'Oth  sjnnpathetie  and  courageous  heart  to  un- 
dertake their  relief,  and  a  man  of  rare  learn- 
ing  and  consummate  skill  to  succeed  in  the 
undertaking.  Such  a  man  was  Joshua  Ta.^lor 
Bradford. 

He  was  born  in  Bracken  County,  Kentucky, 
ill  1817,  the  sou  of  a  minister,  a  descendant  of 
William  Bradford  of  the  ]\Iawflower  Pilgrims, 


MEDICAL    PIONEEhs     OF    KENTUCKY. 


141 


second  governor  of  Plymouth  Colony,  and 
also  of  William  S.  Bradford,  second  U.  S. 
Aitornej^  General  under  Wasliington.  He  was 
educated  at  Augiista  College,  Transylvania 
University  and  the  Jefferson  Medical  College, 
Philadelphia. 

He  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Ephraim  Mc- 
Dowell both  as  a  great  surgeon  and  as  a 
(christian  gentleman.  That  he  was  an  earnest 
(.'hristian  himself  is  attested  by  the  fact  that 
his  medical  -writings  abound  in  apt  quotations 
oF  scripture,  and  that  his  life  even  more  than 
liis  language  porti-ayed  a  generous  good  will 
toward  his  critics  and  an  imselfish  service  to 
all,  which  are  the  best  possible  evidences  of 
disoipleship  to  the  Great  Physician  who  went 
about  doing  good. 

Lizars  of  Edinburgh  had  attempted  to  fol- 
low McDowell 's  lead  but  losing  75  per  cent  of 
his  cases  gave  it  up.  No  serious  attempt  to 
revive  the  operation  anywhere  in  the  world 
appears  to  have  followed  for  a  score  of  years. 
Then  it  was  taken  up  by  Clay  of  Manchester. 
England,  with  a  mortality  gradually  dimin- 
ishing between  the  years  1842  and  1856  from 
40  per  cent  to  25  per  cent.  By  this  time  Dr. 
Bradfoj'd  had  revived  the  operation  on  its 
native  soil  of  Kentucky  in  a  series  of  seven 
consecutive  cases  without  a  death.  On  hear 
ing  of  this  Mr.  Clay  wrote  him,  "I  am  delight- 
ed to  hear  of  your  great  success,  far  exceed- 
ing my  own."  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Cartwright  of 
New  Orleans,  himself  a  noted  siirgeon, 
wrote  in  1857,  "The  writers  and  teachers  of 
London  and  Paris  will  find  difficulty  in  believ- 
ing that  a  physician  in  the  little  toiwn  of  A\i- 
gusta,  in  far  distant  Kentucky,  has  been  en- 
gaged in  seven  successive  operations  for  ovar- 
ian dropsy,  all  proving  successful,  when  their 
most  successf'.il  surgeons  have  failed  in  five 
out  of  seven," 

Dr.  Bradford's  complete  series  of  ovariot- 
omies numbered  thirty,  with  a  mortality  of 
only  ten  per  cent.  When  it  is  remembered  that 
he  died  in  1871  at  the  age  of  54.  that  all  his 
w(.rk  was  done  before  the  use  of  antiseptics, 
and  some  of  it  before  anesthesia,  it  stands  as 
a  wonderful  i-ecord  of  achievement,  iinequall- 
ed  in  all  the  world  befoi'e  the  days  of  modern 
surgery.  And  yet  there  was  no  magic  or 
flight  of  genius  about  it.  Like  intelligence 
and  training,  equal  courage  and  care,  the 
same  thoughtful  devotion  and  painstaking 
diligence,  have  always  brought  forth  extra- 
ordinary results  and  will  still  do  so. 

Dr.  Bradford's  life  and  work  well  illustrate 
the  thought  that  the  man  who  undertakes  re- 
sponsibility for  the  life  of  his  fellows  should 
be  truly  religious,  not  in  the  dogmatic  or  doe- 
t)'inaire  sense  but  in  the  practical  outworking 
of  his  everyday  existence.  A  lover  of  his 
kind  he  could  not  rest  easy  in  the  presence  of 
suffering  unrelieved.  It  was  not  sufficient  for 
him  that  the  surgery  of  his  day  offered  no  re- 


lief. He  must  seek  a  better  surgery.  Deeply 
conscious  of  the  sacrediiess  of  numau  life  he 
could  not  operate  recklessly,  or  repeat  the 
mortality  ot  Lizai's  and  others.  He  must  find 
a  safer  way.  Keenly  seiisitive  to  criticism 
and  sternly  faithful  to  diny  he  could  consent 
neither  to  deserve  the  one  nor  to  desert  the 
other.  In  tlie  midst  of  an  operation  at  Paris, 
Kentucky,  the  patient  collapsed.  His  assist- 
ants, appalled  by  the  serious  siituation  and  the 
i'ear  of  criticism  deseited  liim,  refusing  to 
have  anything  more  to  do  with  the  case.  Ap- 
plying restoratives,  he  answered  tlieir  implied 
condemnation  by  saying,  "Gentlemen,  this 
operation  has  been  conducted  according  to  the 
best  surgical  knowledge  of  the  day,"  complet- 
ed the  work  unaided  and  saved  the  patient. 

He  studied  his  cases  with  uncommon  care, 
taking  a  very  complete  history,  eliciting  all 
signs  and  symptoms  with  practical  skill,  and 
coordinating  the  whole  with  fine  diagnostic 
I'easoning.  He  attributed  Ms  success  to  a 
careful  selection  of  cases.  This  better  select- 
ion was  due  in  turn  to  more  efficient  diagnosis. 
He  never  mistook  a  solid  tumor  for  a  cyst,  or 
one  widely  adherent  for  one  comparatively 
free,  and  thus  avoided  the  dangers  of  what  in 
liis  day  would  liave  been  reckless  surgery. 

In  spite  of  his  brilliant  results,  so  far  aliead 
of  his  time,  he  was  not  satisfied.  His  faithful 
report  of  his  unsuccessful  cases  portrays  a 
keen  sense  of  failure  in  such  instances.  He 
read  everything  available  in  his  line  and  cor- 
j-esponded  with  the  leading  surgeons  at  home 
and  abroad,  eagerly  seeking  betterment  of  his 
work.  His  very  full  report  on  ovariotomy  to 
the  Kentucky  State  Medical  Association  in 
1857  represented  two  years  of  arduous  labor 
in  collecting  and  tabulating  cases  and  work- 
ing out  the  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from 
tliem.  He  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  solve 
the  problem  and  demonstrate  secondary  hem- 
orrliage  was  due  to  retraction  of  the  stump. 
He  insisted  on  the  most  careful  preparatory 
and  after  treatment,  and  followed  up  his  cases 
to  restored  health  or  to  the  post  mortem  table 
'.vjien  fatal.  To  him  each  patient  was  a  real 
])ersona]ity  to  bo  seiwed,  not  merely  a  speci- 
men of  scientific  interest. 

This  holding  himself  sternly  to  the  doing  of 
his  best,  this  "New  England  conscience"  of 
the  man,  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  sincere 
( 'hristianity  and  a  deep  devotion  to  his  pro- 
fession, expressing  itself  not  in  creeds  but  in 
deeds.  His  was  the  heritage  of  a  goodly  race 
ajid  his  a  worthy  progeny.  A  son  and  daugh- 
ter, the  offspi'ing  of  his  marriage  with  Sarah 
Armstrong,  still  survive;  Rev.  W.  G.  Brad- 
ford of  Augusta  and  Mrs.  H.  D.  Yoder  of  To- 
peka.  Kansas,  both  persons  of  note  in  the 
clerical  and  literary  world. 

Dr.  Bradford's  achievement  in  other  lines 
of  medicine  and  surgery  were  only  second  to 
tbose  in  ovariotomy  and  would,  of  themselves, 


142 


KEXTFCKY     MED/CM.     .KHUSAL. 


have  given  him  liigh  rank  iu  the  profession. 

He  served  iu  the  J^'ederal  army  iu  the  Civil 
War  as  surgeon  of  Nelsou  's  brigade.  At  Pitts- 
lan-g  Landing  he  led  back  to  tlie  tiring  line  a 
body  of  troops  that  !iad  lost  its  officers  ana 
was  retreating  in  disorder,  and  was  then 
found  treating  a  wounded  and  captive  Con- 
federate. Wliile  home  ou  sick  leave  he  com- 
manded the  Home  Guards  iu  the  defense  of 
Augusta  against  the  supei-ior  force  of  Geu. 
.fohu  H.  ."Morgan  and  alter  the  surrender  he 
was  eialn-aeed  by  Gen.  ^Morgan  who  exclaimed, 
"1  love  a  brave  'iian  wherever  I  lind  him." 

A  man  of  ];is  worth  could  not  escape  fame. 
Gross's  surgery,  shortly  before  his  death,  ac- 
corded him  the  lowest  mortality  iu  ovari- 
otomy on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic.  He  was 
oii'ered  the  chair  of  surgery  in  the  iledical 
College  of  Ohio  as  successor  to  liis  friend,  the 
famous  Dr.  Geo.  C.  Blackmau,  and  was  often 
ui-ged  to  seek  larger  fields  for  his  talents  but 
alwaj-s  declined,  ha^-ing  no  ambition  that  cen- 
tered in  himself. 

It  seems  part  of  the  irouy  of  fate  that  his 
man  who  did  so  much  for  the  advancement  of 
abdominal  sui-gery  should  have  lost  his  o\\n 
life  by  an  abdominal  tumor  in  1871  at  the 
early  age  of  fifty-four.  But  even  in  this  he 
proved  the  courage  of  his  convictions  by  suh- 
luittijig  hiiiiself  to  an  operation  which,  how- 
ever, proved  unavailing.  Perhaps  it  may  in 
some  measure  be  said  of  ever^'  savior  of  men. 
""He  saved  others.    Himself  he  can  uot  save.' 


SELECTION     KitO.M    A    liEPOI^T    ON 

oyarioto:my.* 

By  JosHu.i  Taylor  Bradford,  M.D.,  Augusta. 

"Go  to  the  Parthenon  and  find  out,  not 
what  bungler.s,  but  what  great  men  have  left 
undone." — Sculptor  to  his  Pupil. 

.\  Word  of  Explanation. — To  you,  mem- 
)<ers  of  the  "Kentucky.  State  ^ledical  So- 
ciety," who  had  confided  to  my  humble  ability 
a  ' '  Statistical  Report  on  Ovariotomy ' '  a  ^ord 
of  explanation  is  justlv  due,  as  well  as  to  mv- 
self. 

For  two  years  my  leisure  moments  have 
been  employed  in  the  collection  of  statistics  on 
ovariotomy,  and  few  of  you,  who  have  not 
been  pioneers  in  a  newly  settled  territory,  but 
have  traveled  upon  a  beaten  track,  where  the 
finger  board  has  pointed  out  the  Avay,  are 
aware  of  the  labor  it  has  cost  me.  The  writing 
of  a  report  is  a  small  matter,  but  the  collection 
of  material  upon  a  subject,  about  which  so  lit- 
tle is  known,  is  by  no  means,  an  easy  task. 

1-ut  to  the  explanation.  I  adopted  Dr.  At- 
lee's  tables  of  222  cases  as  a  basis  for  my  re- 
poi't,  and  up  to  January  had  registered,  in- 
cluding his  table,  289  eases.  About  that  time. 

"Read  before  the  Kenlucky  State  Medical  Society,  at  the 
Sevonth  Annunl  Meftins.  in  Louisville.  April.   1857. 


Dr.  L\Tnan,  of  Boston,  very  kindly  sent  me 
his  "prize  essay,  just  published  by  the  -\iassa- 
cliusetts  State  -Medical  Society,"  aud  to  my 
unexpected  surprise,  it  contained  three  hun- 
ilred  well-reported  cases  of  ovariotomy.  I 
can  not  express  to  j'ou  my  feelings  at  that  mo- 
niont;  it  was  but  too  evident,  at  a  moment's 
glance,  that  both  he  and  m\self,  for  many  a 
weary  hour,  had  been  laboriously  at  work  for 
the  same  purpose,  and  collecting  materials 
fi'oiii  the  same  source.  And  perhaps  1,  bettei* 
than  any  one  of  you,  apreciate  the  immeu.se 
labor,  the  collecting  and  classification  of  his 
his  cases,  cost  him.  L  examined  the  report  care- 
luU.v,  and  found  that  he  had  collected  11  cases 
v.hich  I  had  not,  and  I  had  collected  20,  includ- 
ing 31  r.  Clay's  unpublished  cases,  which  he 
did  not  have,  my  2(.l  being  principally  unpub- 
lished cases.  After  a  short  correspondence  with 
Dr.  Lyman,  and  no  little  reflection,  as  to  what 
would  oe  the  better  course  to  pursue,  I  have 
concluded  as  a  supplement  to  this  report  to 
adopt  the  analysis  of  Dr.  Lyman's  300  eases. 

This  singular  coincidence,  so  far  as  I  am 
jiersonally  concerned,  is  not  without  its  re- 
grets. But  to  this  society,  among  the  first,  if 
LOt  the  very  first,  in  this  country,  to  call  for 
a  report  of  statistics,  I  felt  anxious,  so  far  as 
my  ability  could  be  exerted,  to  present  a  re- 
port, which  woidd  not  onh'  be  worthy  of  the 
society,  but  ereditible  to  myself.  And  whilst 
I,  as  your  servant,  regret  yielding  precedence 
to  Dr.  L^^uan,  after  so  much  labor  on  my 
part,  1  confess  sincerely,  and  with  all  du^ 
credit  that  up  to  this  period,  no  writer  has 
performed  the  task  so  well  as  he. 

With  the  exception  of  the  chapter  on  the 
diagnosis,  I  have,  therefore,  in  this  short  time, 
J  ad  to  write  a  new  report,  or  reverse  a  prin- 
ciple ill  ihat  school,  of  which  I  am  a  pupil, 
"tliat  true  magnanimity  does  not  consist  so 
much  in  never  falling,  Imt  in  always  rising 
when  we  fall." 

The  interest  of  the  present  report  ^vill  con- 
sist principally  of  ■ 

1st.  A  shoi't  history  of  Ovariotomy  and 
the  principal  operators. 

2nd.     Diagnosis,  and  its  errors. 

J!rd.  Letters  fi-om  Professors  Gibson  and 
Atlee,  of  Philadelphia :  Clay,  of  :\Ianchester, 
England ;  i\Iussey  and  Blaekman,  of  Cincin- 
nati ;  !Miiler,  of  Louis\-ille,  Ky. ;  Sainl.  Cart- 
wright,  of  New  Orleans,  La. ;  and  Dr.  B.  W. 
Dudley,  of  Lexington.  Ky. 

1th.  Statistics  of  all  the  operations  per- 
formed in  Kentucky,  with  a  short  notice  of 
each  case. 

;ith.  Operations  with  which  I  have  been 
connected,  with  here  and  there,  throughout 
the  report,  some  practical  allusions. 

Perhaps  no  branch  of  surgery,  for  a  period 
of  lirae,  so  completely  divided  the  members 
ot  the  profession,  both  in  Europe  and  in  this 
eoimtrv,  or  ei'eated  a  more  vehement  and  bit- 


MEDICAL     PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY. 


143 


tei'  opposition,  than  did  the  operation  of 
ovariotomy. 

It  has  bpeii  regarded  as  a  monstrous  innova- 
tion upon  the  legitimate  principles  of  sur 
g'ery;  and  the  defects  and  errors  of  diagnosis 
liave  been  sei.?;ed  upon  by  its  opposers  with  a 
■'Jeopard-like  spring  of  energy,"  which  is  sel- 
dom met  with  in  the  "'healing  art." 

And  here  fas  T  do  not  expect  to  write  an  es- 
say on  ovariotomy.)  I  trust  you  will  pardon 
me  for  alluding  to  a  report  on  surgery,  read 
before  this  society  in  1854.  It  may  he  remem- 
liered  that  the  rejiorter,  in  his  allusion  to  the 
operation  of  ovariotomy,  denounced  the  opera- 
tion and  operators  with  a  fierceness  which 
would  seem  to  interdict  that  well-established 
principle  of  philosophers  on  all  subjects,  that 
at'  honest  difference  of  opinion  may  exist;  and 
thai  until  the  licjht  of  reason  has  clearly  dem- 
onstrated the  folly  and  prepbsterousness  of 
such  opinions,  there  is  due  that  .amount  of 
courtesy  which  becomes  the  liberal  investiga- 
liou  of  truth. 

The  tone  of  medical  journals  the  past  few 
years,  and  the  march  of  pu.blic  opinion  in  fa- 
vor of  ovariotomy,  may  have  taught  you  that 
the  operation  has  outlived  the  scrutiny  of  that 
I'cport. 

There  are  but  few  improvements  in  science, 
which,  in  their  struggle  for  legitimacy,  have 
not  tlieir  opposition. 

Even  the  immortal  -Tenner,  whose  discovery 
of  vaccination  links  with  his  name  the  bright- 
est remembrance  of  the  past,  met  with  opposi- 
tion; arid  it  was  written  in  books,  and  by  the 
\\'ayside,  that  they  who  weve  vaccinated  must 
of  necessity  lie,  " converted  into  brutes;  that 
children  sprouted  horns,  others  had  the  hair 
of  calves"  and  that  it  infused  into  the  system 
the  constitutional  diseases  of  those  from  whom 
the  virus  was  taken. 

Dr.  Simpson's  discovery  of  chloi'oform, 
that  Messiah-like  unction  which  hushes  into 
repose  the  m.ost  severe  pain,  also  had  its  oppo- 
sition, and  the  physician  who  wouhl  use  it. 
was  considered  as  "breaking  alike  the  laws  of 
nature  aiad  of  God." 

There  still  exists  i.n  the  minds  of  some  of 
the  profession  a  contrariety  of  opinion,  as  to 
whom  the  credit  of  the  first  operation  is  just- 
ly due.  So  fai-  back  as  1782,  Dr.  L'Aumoner, 
of  Eouen.  has  the  credit,  according  to  Mason 
Good  and  Mr.  Brown,  of  Europe,  and  Dr.  At- 
lee  and  Dr.  Ijyman,  of  this  countj-y,  of  per- 
forming the  first  operation  for  ovariotomy. 

Dr.  McDowell's  operation  as  you  well 
know,  was  performed  in  1809.  Now,  let  us 
examine  and  see  which  is  ovariotomy,  and 
whether,  as  Professor  O-ross  says,  the  case  of 
L'Aumoner  is  any  thing  more  than  an  "ab- 
scess of  the  ovary,  consequent  upon  par- 
turition. 

I  quote  the  case  of  L'Aumoner  as  reported 
l)y  Dr.  Lyman  :    ' ' The  disease, ' '  he  says,  "ap- 


parently followed  delivery ;  had  obstinate 
diarrhoea,  and  a  purulent  discharge  from  the 
vagina,  increased  by  pressure  on  the  tumor. 
Incision  four  inches,  along  lower  edge  of 
oblique  ex*«rniis,  and  scirrhus  ovarian  cyst, 
the  size  of  an  egg,  was  found  in  connection 
vvith  an  abscess,  which  was  tapped,  and  a  pint 
ol  dark  fetid  pus  issued  from  the  Fallopian 
tube,  with  which  the  ovarian  abscess  commun- 
icated. The  adhesions  were  torn  away  between 
the  tube  and  the  ovary,  and  the  latter  remov- 
ed. No  lisature  used.  The  cavity  of  the  ab- 
scess was  filled  with  lint,  dipped  in  the  yolk 
of  an  egg  and  in  honey.  Suppuration  of  the 
abscess  qeased  the  20th  day,  and  she  left  the 
hospital  well. 

The  well-known  case  of  Dr.  McDowell  was 
JMrs.  Crawford.  Incision  nine  inches  long, 
and  made  on  the  left  side  of  the  median  line, 
some  distance  from  the  outer  edge  of  the 
straight  muscle.  As  soon  as  the  incision  was 
made  the  intestines  gushed  out  on  the  table, 
and  so  completely  wa.s  the  abdomen  filled  by 
the  tumor  that  they  could  not  be  replaced  dur- 
ing the  operation.  A  ligature  was  applied 
around  the  pedicle,  tumor  opened,  and  15 
pounds  of  gelatinous  fluid  removed ;  pedicle 
divided,  and  sac,  etc..  extirpated.  The  whole 
tumor  weighed  tweiitv-two  pounds  and  a  half. 
In  ^ve  days  Dr.  McDowell  found  her  making 
Jier  bed,  and  in  twenty-five  days  she  went 
home  well. 

Yo\i  will  recollect,  that  in  the  case  of  L'Au- 
moner, no  ligature  was  applied,  simply  an  in 
cision  made  in  the  abdomen,  and  the  the  abs- 
cess tapped.  It  is  not  fair  to  presume,  that 
v.'hen  a  purulent  discharge  was  issuing  from 
tiie  vagina,  and  the  dischara-e  increased  by 
pressure,  with  a  tumor  so  small,  that  the  incis- 
ion in  the  bom^els  was  for  any  other  purpose 
than  the  simple  operation  of  paracentesis,  or 
to  ascertain  the  real  cause  of  the  disease. 

In  Prof.  Gross'  Report  on  "Kentuckv  Sur- 
gery" to  the  State  Medical  Societv  in  1852,  I 
heg  leave  to  refer  yon  for  such  information  as 
relates  to  the  earh-  history  of  ovcsriotomv  in 
Kentucky,  and  for  an  interesting  biographical 
sketch  of  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell.  I  have  al- 
luded to  the  oases  of  Dr.  IMcDowell  and  L'Au- 
moner, from  the  fact  that  from  one  or  the 
other,  we  are  to  date  the  memorable  epoch  of 
ovariotomy. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  how  often  our  re- 
nowned Kentuckiau  (Dr.  McDowell)  operat- 
ed; some  of  his  relatives  say  thirteen  times — 
of  eight  operations  there  is  an  authentic  rec- 
ord, and  of  these  seven  were  successful ;  in 
two,  the  tumor  was  not  removed,  and  in  one 
there  was  no  tumor  found  ;  this  last,  however. 
v.^as  a  ease  of  his  and  Dr.  Smith's,  which,  if 
included  among  his  cases,  would  make  nine 
operations. 

Such  success  in  a  difficult  and  dangerous 
capital  operation,  jiist  springing  into  exist- 


144 


KEXTUCKT    MEDirAT.    JOURXAL. 


euce,  without  precedent  or  a  foot -print  where 
the  son  of  man  liad  trod,  is  ^^dthout  its  equal, 
and  shows  the  operator  to  liave  possessed  a 
happy  union  of  courage  and  pi-udence. 

Dv.  IvrcDo well's  siiecess  in  other  depart- 
ments of  surgery  was  equally  signal.  He  is 
said  to  have  operated  thirty-two  times  for 
stone,  without  losing  a  ease.  One  of  his  pa- 
tients was  President  Polk,  whose  operation 
took  plaee  prior  to  his  election  "to  Congi-ess. 
Dr.  l\rcDowell  was  remarkably  cautious  in  the 
selection  and  preparation  of  his  cases;  and, 
to  this  fact,  together  with  his  .steady  hand  and 
accurate  anatomical  knowledge,  may  be 
ascribed  much  of  his  .success.  It  is  a  singular 
fact,  that  Dr.  JicDowell  always  operated  on 
Siinday  morning,  gi^-ing  as  a  reason,  that  he 
always  "liked  to  have  the  prayers  of  the 
church. ' ' 

He  was  a  liberal  and  charitable  man,  and  his 
fees  were  generally  regulated  by  the  abilitj'  of 
his  patients.  On  one  occasion  he  agreed  to  op 
erate  upon  a  lady  near  the  Hermitage,  in  Ten- 
nessee, for  fh^e  hundred  dollars.  After  the 
operation  was  completed  and  he  was  about  to 
retuni  home,  h?  was  presented  T\'ith  a  check 
for  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

This  is,  perhaps,  the  most  princely  fee 
which  any  snrgeon  has  obtained,  either  in  Eu- 
rope 0}'  this  country,  if  we  accept  the  thousand 
guineas  paid  Sir  Astley  Cooper  for  an  opera- 
tion performed  in  the  West  Indies.  T  have 
read,  some  where,  that  the  learned  Apono,  of 
Pabi-ea,  refused  to  visit  Pope  Honoring  IV. 
■without  receiving  four  hundred  dncats  for 
each  day's  visit. 

In  an  operation  for  stone.  I  once  had  the 
honor  of  holding  the  staff  foi'  Professor  S.  D. 
Gross,  of  Philadelphia,  for  which  operation 
he  received  one  thousand  dollars. 

Dr.  Gross,  from  whose  report  I  have  taken 
most  of  the  above  incidents,  thus  sums  up 
Dr.  ]\IcDowell  's  character :  ' '  He  was  a  deep 
and  original  thinker,  a  bold,  fearless,  intrepid, 
and  original  operator;  a  faithful  and  adroit 
physician,  an  honest,  upright,  couscientioiis 
and  benevolent  man,  whose  career,  in  what- 
ever aspect  it  may  be  contemplated,  affords 
an  example  worthy  alike  of  our  admiration 
and  imitation." 

The  remains  of  Kentuek\'s  "fii-st  great  sur- 
geon" sleep  in  the  burial  orround  of  Gov.  Shel- 
by, five  miles  from  Danville.  Some  time  since, 
while  on  a  visit  to  tlie  interior  of  Kentucln', 
my  curiosity  led  me  to  visit  this 'memorable 
S]5ot,  and  while  looking  upon  the  modest  and 
plaiii  marble  slab  which  bears  the  simple  in- 
scription "Ephraini  ^IcDowell,"  I  felt  as  if 
at  the  grave  of  one  whose  sacred  labors  were 
worthy  of  my  pilgrimage  thither;  aud  as  mem- 
ory wandered  back  to  the  period  of  his  first 
ovarian  opei'ntion.  when  the  incredulous  scoffs 
of  the  first  English  surgeons,  and  the  caustic 
derision  of  the    London  '  Medico-Chinirgica^ 


Review,  together  with  the  refusal  of  Dr.  Phy- 
sic, the  ' '  father  of  surgerj% ' '  in  our  own  coun- 
li-y,  to  publish  or  read  to  his  cla.ss  a  copy  of 
Dr.  ^McDowell's  operation;  I  could  but  feel  a 
liecoming  pride,  that  the  "backswoods  Ken- 
tuckian, "  as  Dr.  James  Johnson  styled  him, 
jiad  triumphed. 

The  success  of  our  distinguished  Kentuck 
ian  in  private  practice,  as  in  surgery,  had  few 
if  any  equals;  and  while  I  listened  in  his  own 
town  to  those  wlio  knew  him  well.  I  was  never 
so  forcibly  reminded  of  the  skill  of  Him  who 
"cleansed  the  leper,  opened  the  eyes  of  the 
blind,  and  unstopped  the  ears  of  the  deaf." 

MR.  LIZARS. 

Next  to  onr  renowned  Kentuckian  appears 
^Ir.  Lizars,  of  Edinburgh,  who,  in  1823,  first 
attempted  the  opei-ation  in  Edinburgh.  He 
operated  by  the  long  incision,  after  the  mau- 
j)er  of  ^FcDowell.  One.  out  of  his  four  cases, 
recovered.  His  first  case  was  examined  bv  the 
most  learned  men  of  Edinburgh,  and.  after 
agreeing  that  it  was  an  ovarian  tumoi".  lsh\ 
Lizars  proceeded  to  operate,  whereupon 
obesity  and  flatulence  revealed  themselves  in- 
stead of  ovarian  tumor.  His  second  ease  recov- 
ered ;  the  third  died  ;  and  in  the  fourth,  which 
I  shall  notice  elsewhere;  the  operation  was 
abandoned,  he  having  encountered  a  fibrous 
tumor  strongly  adherent. 

The  cases  of  ^\v.  Lizare,  from  their  marked 
errors  of  diagnosis,  set  the  whole  sursical 
world  in  commotion,  and  while  ^McDowell's 
operations  were  eaarerly  looked  too,  iipon  the 
otiier  side,  the  failure  of  I\Ir.  Lizars 's  opera- 
tions gave  the  English  surgeons,  already  will- 
ing to  doubt  the  success  of  Dr.  ^McDowell's 
cases,  room  to  waver,  and  for  several  years 
the  operation  slnmbered. 

It  was  the  slumber,  however,  of  a  vigorous 
child,  whose  features  seemod  as  if  some  "hap- 
py thought"  of  coming  triumph  played  at  its 
"heart-strinss."  when,  in  its  strength,  it 
would  ero  forth,  "giving  beaiity  for  ashes,  the 
oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment  of 
praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness," 

:\rR.   CHARLES  CLAY. 

In  1842.  :\rr.  Charles  Clay,  of  .Manchester, 
England.,  now,  perhaps,  the  most  distinguish, 
cd  operator  in  the  world,  commenced  his 
series  of  operations.  He  informs  me,  by  let- 
ter, to  which  T  refer  you  as  a  part  of  this  re- 
]iort,  that  he  has  now  operated  seventy-six 
times,  and  may  be  read  thus : 

"Of  first  20.  8  died.  12  recovered; 

Of  second  20.  6  died.  14  recovei-ed : 

Of  last  36.  f<  died,  27  recovered. 
First  cases,  1  death  in  2i{> : 
Second  cases,  1  death  in  SV^ ; 
Last  cases,  1  death  in  4. ' ' 

"This,"  says  ^[r.  Clay,  is  '"I  believe,  the  le- 
gitimate mode  of  viewing  the   question   pro- 


MEDICAL    PIONEELS     OF     KENTTJCKY. 


145 


gressivelj^,  by  wliicli  the  mortality  is  shown  to 
'be  gradually  lessened  by  practical  experi- 
ence. ' ' 

Charles  Clay  was  the  first  English  surgeon 
to  perform  the  oT)eratiou  of  ovariotomy  by 
the  loug  incision,  and  it  is  said  by  Dr.  Blum- 
dell,  that  "perhaps  no  operator  in  any  branch 
of  surgery  ever  had  such  a  weight  of  profes- 
sional odds  against  him.  as  had  Mr.  Clay  in 
the  operation  of  ovariotomy." 

He  had  ti-iumphed.,  however;  and  his  record 
is  before  you,  over  his  o',vn  signature. 

I\Ir.  Clay  is  now  fifty-six  years  old.  He  is 
reputed  to  be  a  "bold,  prudent,  graceful,  and 
elegant  operator  in  any  department  of  sur- 
gery." At  the  time  of  his  fifty-fifth  opera- 
tion, not  less  than  "eleven  hundred  pounds  of 
diseased  structure  has  been  removed  from  the 
human  body  in  this  special  operation  alone.'' 
It  would  now,  perhaps,  make  an  average  of 
twenty-five  pounds  to  the  patient,  amounting 
to  near  two  thousand  pounds. 

I^fr.  Clav  is  now  in  possession  of  the  largest 
obstetric  librarv  in  the  world,  being  able  to 
quote  from  2,500  authors  on  that  subject 
alone;  and  whilst  yet  a  student,  he  is  said  to 
have  taken  notes  from  500  volumes. 

In  the  Lnndnn  Medical  Circular  and  Gen- 
eral Advertiser,  to  which  T  am  indebted  for 
much  of  the  information  relative  to  IMr.  Clay, 
I  find  letters  from  James  Blundell,  congratu- 
lating Mr.  Clay  upon  his  success.  I  will  q^^ote 
briefly  a  part  of  each. 

Dear  Sir:  My  cordial  congratulations  on 
your  success ;  not  the  hap  of  lucky  incident, 
but  the  well-earned  result  of  a  just  mixture  of 
enterprise,  science,  and  exact  care.  A  few 
years  and  T  trust  it  will  appear,  abdominal 
surgery  is  at  present  only  in  its  infancy;  but 
then,  what  an  infancy !  how  full  of  bloom  and 
promise!  Jas.  Bwjndeli.,  M.  D. 

A  orain,  in  another  letter  dated  October. 
1845: 

"Foi-be's  rcAaew  I  have  just  i^ead.  It  ought 
not  to  disturb  you  for  a  moment.  These  vden 
are  butting  their  heads  against  a  stoiie  wall ; 
and  the  grimaces  they  make  on  feeling  the  sol- 
idity of  the  materials,  are  as  amusing  as  they 
are  pitiable.  Applauded  by  all  who  have  hon 
esty  and  intelligence  enough  to  appreciate  your 
efforts,  you  may  well  persevere,  for  to  use  tlie 
reviewer's  own  citation,  it  is  indeed  a  'high 
and  holy  undertaking.'     Yours,  etc., 

-Jas.  Br.rNDEKL,  M.  D. 

Professor  Simpson,  of  Edinburgh,  among 
many  others,  encouraged  Mr.  Clay,  sent  him 
patients  for  his  opinion,  and  was  the  first  1o 
suggest  the  +orm  ovariotomy,  which  Mr.  C1a,y 
at  once  adopted. 

DOCTOR  wrASHINCTON  ATLEE. 

Next  in  the  ai'ena  of  operators,  in  1814,  our 
own  countryman.  Dr.  AVashington  Atlee,  of 
Philadelphia,  comnusnced  his  seri'"-s  of  opera- 


tions. He  informs  me  by  letter,  which  is  made 
a  part  of  this  report,  that  his  operations  now, 
March,  1854,  amount  to  twenty-three  eases. 

Of  first  10,6  died,  4  recovered ; 
Of  second.  13,  4  died,  9  recovered. 

The  profession,  in  this  county,  owe  Dr.  At- 
lee a  lasting  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  vigorous 
and  energetic  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  opera- 
tion of  ovariotomy.  His  table  of  cases  bearing 
date  as  far  back  as  1701,  and  coming  up  to 
1851,  comprising  222  operations,  then  the 
most  numei'ons  collected  in  the  world,  must 
have  cost  him  an  incredible  amount  of  labor. 
And  this  arduous  task  has  been  no  less  signal, 
than  the  brilliancy  and  success  of  his  opera- 
tions. 

Dr.  Atlee 's  "Prize  Essay  on  the  surgical 
treatment  of  certain  fibrous  tumors  of  the 
uterus,"  tosrether  with  his  numerous  contri- 
butions to  the  American  Journal  of  MedieaJ 
Science,  on  ovurian  disease,  is  full  of  interest 
and  instruction;  and  to  these  articles,  to- 
gether with  the  publication  of  his  own  opera- 
tions in  ovariotomy,  we  may  attribute,  in  a 
great  desjree.  the  spread  of  the  operation 
throughout  this  country. 

It  would  be  both  difficult  and  tedious  fur 
ther  to  particularize  operations  in  this  coun- 
try, however  earnestly  I  may  be  induced  to  do 
so.  L  may  say,  however,  and  I  trust  with  as 
uuich  truth  as  pride,  that,  in  the  West,  the  op- 
eration of  ovai'iotomy  has  attained  as  great, 
if  not  a  greater  degree  of  success,  than  in  any 
p.;rt  of  the  United  States  •  and  in  Kentuekv, 
as  renowned  for  her  sursrery  as  for  hej'  chival 
ry,  we  have  gone  as  far  "as  he  who  goes 
ffirthest." 

Tliose  of  you  ^vho  have  read  the  report  of 
Professor  Gross  on  "Kentucky  Surgery," 
must  feel  proud  of  the  surgery  of  your  State. 
It  has  kept  pace  with  the  intelliffence,  the 
agriculture,  and  the  chivalry  of  her  sous. 
And  wliilst  the  repiitation  of  the  intellect  and 
patriotism  of  her  statesmen  is  world-wide: 
whilst  even  along  the  classic  shores  of  Greece, 

"They  minale  witli  their  g-rateful  lav, 
Bozzaris  with  the  name  of  Clay," 

yon  have  prodnced  the  first  and  greatest 
ovariotomist.  Dr.  Ephraim  McDowell;  and 
you  have  produced  the  most  renowned  lith- 
otomist  known  in  anv  clime,  Dr.  Benjamin 
W.  Dudley. 

Diagnosis.  "  Ah  !  there 's  the  rub. ' '  And 
when  I  approach  the  examination  of  a  case 
in  wliicli  a  proper  diagnosis  is  sought.  T  am 
frequently  remind^^d  of  that  remarkfdile  pas- 
sage in  the  Book  of  Books.  "He  that  thinketb 
he  standeth.  take  heed  lest  he  fall." 

It  is  said  by  the  historian,  ilaeauley.  that  a 
"history  of  the  eriors  and  follies  of  a  nation 
is- essential  to  the  generation  which  follows." 
So  it  is  with  ovariotomy.    Its  past  history  pre- 


146 


KENTUCKY    .MEDICAL    JOVHNAJ.. 


soiits  an  array  of  errors  and  grave  deceptions 
v."l>ir'h  is,  perhaps,  \\-itliout  a  parallel,  in  mind 
or  inemorv.  It  is  said  liy  ;\rr.  Phillips,  that 
the  most  learned  men  of  Edinburgh  examined 
a  case  ^rith  l\Ir.  Ijizars,  and  after  agreeing 
that  it  Avas  ovarian  tnmor,  Lizars  proceeded 
to  operate,  whereupon  obesity  and  flatulence 
j'evcaled  themselves,  instead  of  ovarian  tumor. 

In  a  second  case  of  Jlr.  Lizars,  the  memor- 
able ease  of  IMagdalene  Biiss.v,  a  case  often 
appealed  to  by  opposers  of  ovariotomy,  to 
show  how  long  ovarian  disease  may  j-emain 
liarmless,  Mr.  Lizars  attempted  the  opera- 
tion for  ovarian  tumor,  but  failed;  the  wound 
■ivas  closed  up  and  the  patient  recovered. 
Twenty-five  years  after,  this  patient  died  of 
ai)oplexA\  Dr.  Simpson  was  present  at  the 
])ost  mortem  examination,  and  in  a  note  to  Dr. 
Tilt,  says:  "The  tumor  was  pediculated,  but 
fibrinous  and  uteri7ie,  not  ovarian."  In  a  let- 
ter to  Dr.  Robert  Lee.  after  the  nost  mortem 
examination.  ^Iv.  Lizars  says:  "Then,  allud- 
ing to  the  time  of  the  oneration.  every  one 
who  examined  her.  considered  +he  tumor 
oA'arian  and  free  from  adhesions."* 

In  the  case  of  Smi+h  and  ^McDowell,  where 
the  patient  had  tapped  herself  ninety  times 
lioth  eonsidei'ed  the  diagnosis  as  certain,  but 
on  oneninc  the  abdomen,  no  ovarian  tumor 
was  found,  but  a  mass  of  intestines  matter  to 
gether  by  adhesions. f 

Dr.  Ijyman  relates  the  case  of  Boinet,  where 
the  best  surs'eong  were  unable  to  decide  upon 
a  tnmor.  A  consultation  was  held;  among 
those  present  were.  Roux.  Blandiu,  Roberl 
PJontaine,  of  Lvons,  Recamier,  Joxbert.  INfar- 
tiu,  Lolin  and  others.  Opinions  were  divided 
between  pregnancy.,  extra  uterine  pregnancy, 
foecal  aecumiilations,  encysted  ovary,  collect- 
ion nf  blood  in  the  uterus,  etc.  She  was  under 
observation  many  months,  the  tumor  eventu- 
allv  disappearing  after  an  attack  of  diarrhoea. 

TTenrv  Smith  relates  a  case  where  an  incis- 
ion eight  inches  in  length  was  made  for  the 
removal  of  ovarian  tnmor.  Both  ovaries  were 
found  to  be  .somid  and  indurated  omentum 
found  to  be  the  cause. t 

Prince  relates  a  case  which  was  pronounced 
to  be  ovarian  tumor.  He  operated;  tapped  the 
patient:  Imt  a  few  drops  of  blood  escaped;  he 
eut  and  tore  ^he  part  with  the  finger ;  tent  in 
Iroduced.  Tu  a  few  days  the  patient  died.  A 
post  mortem  examination  was  held,  whereup- 
on a  large  pedunculated  tumor  of  the  spleen 
was  found,  looselv  adherent  to  peritoneum. tt 

Dr.  Philip  Bnckner.  foi-merly  of  Kentuckv, 
tc  whom  T  am  indebted  for  much  of  my  early 
infoi'ination  with  reference  to  the  operation 
of  ovariotomy,  diagnosed  a  case  as  ovarian  tu- 
mor- "opei-ated  by  an  incision  of  nine  inches; 

*Lni,ilnn  l.nncti.  vol.  1,  1841. 
tAppendix  to  Cooper's  Surgical  l^ictionary. 
tPhUnddphin  Medicnl  Examiner,  January,   18-55. 
ttimerfcan  Journul  of  Medical  Science,  1852. 


no  ovarian  tnmor  found :  but  a  tumor  situated 
in  the  mesentery,  between  the  lamina  of  the 
jieritoneum.  and  surrounded  by  small  intes- 
tines. The  opera+ion  was  proceeded  with,  the. 
tumors  dis'jected  out.  and  the  superior  mesen- 
teric artery  and  other  small  arteries  tied. 
The  pa+ient  recovered,  and  in  spite  of  the 
great  separation  of  the  mesentery  from  the 
intestines,  no  apparent  bad  consequences  of 
any  kind  ensued."  "This,"  says  ilr.  Brown, 
of  Edinburgh,  "is  the  most  hazardous  feat  of 
oi)erative  proceeding  I  am  accjuaiuted  with,  in 
which  our  transatlantic  brother  has  gone 
ahead." 

'SIv.  Harvey  presented  a  ease  of  much  inter- 
est to  the  London  Medical  Society  of  sup- 
posed ovarian  dropsy.  Ovariotomy  was  de- 
termined upon,  but  not  performed ;  and  when, 
the  pati'^nt  died,  the  disease  was  found  to  be 
an  hydated  cyst,  connected  with  the  liver,  no 
ovarian  disea.se  whatever  existing.ti 

T  have  collected  msnv  other  cases  of  equal 
interest  bearing  unon  this  point,  but  those  al- 
readv  nuoted  are  "proof  strono'  »s  holv  writ." 
tlia*"  the  diagnosis  in  ovarian  disease  It^s  been, 
and  still  is,  most  wofullv  defective.  But  while 
1  freely  a^knowledsre  the  enormity  of  these 
errors.  I  am  fully  convinced  that  the  diae- 
nosis  is  yet  in  its  infanev.  and  that  m-^nv  of 
these  errors  have  and  will  vield  to  the  increas 
ing  enercry  whi<^h  is  being  brought  to  bear  by 
many  of  the  first  men  of  the  profession  on 
tills  subieet.** 

It  is  not  alone  in  ovarian  disease  that  verv 
grave  and  flaoT-^nt  errors  have  been  commit- 
ted bv  distininiished  sm-p-eons  It  is  said  that 
Sir  Astley  Cooner  and  Dr.  Hip-liton.  of  Lon- 
don, in  a  case  of  nresnancy.  where  the  quan- 
tity of  linuor  anrnii  was  so  enormous  as  to  ren- 
der fluctuation  distinct  appointed  a  dav  foi- 
the  opera+ion  of  paracentesis.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  ladv  was  taken  in  labor  and  deliver- 
ed of  a  chiM.f  * 

Mr.  S.  <T.  froodrich.  whose  literarv  labors 
exceed  those  of  perhaps  any  one  in  this  eoun- 
trv.  being  the  author  and  editor  of  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  volumes  and  the  father  of 
the  Peter  Parley  literature,  was  attacked  with 
v.  hat  seemed  to  be  disease  of  the  heart.  At 
that  period,  he  was  oblisred  to  be  carried  up 
stairs,  and  never  ventured  alone,  beinsr  sub- 
.iect  to  nervons  spasms,  which  threatened  sud- 
den suffocation ;  he  went  to  Europe,  and  at 
Paris  consulted  Baron  Larroque  and  L'Hen- 
niner.  both  eminent  "specialists  in  diseases  of 
the  heart.  They  interdicted  wine,  and  requir- 
ed liim  to  live  on  light  vea-etable  diet.  After- 
wards, despairing  of  relief,  he  returned  to 
liOndon.  where  he  consulted  Sir  B.  C.  Brodie, 

tt.i  merican  ,Jo>ininl  nf  :M^dicaJ  .Science.  October.   1852. 
'*nro\vii.  p.  9fi.     ■ 
+*Brown  on  Surgery,  Diseases  of  Women,  p.  190, 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL;>     OF     KENTUCKY. 


147 


who  decided  that  no  organic  disease  existed, 
ajid  that  the  difficulty  was  nervous  irritabil- 
ity, and  required  hina  "to  feed  well  on  good 
roast  beef,"  and  "to  take  two  generous 
glasses  of  wine"  with  his  dinner. 

Mr.  Abercrombie,  of  Edinburgh,  afterwards 
confirmed  the  opinion  of  Sir  Benjamin 
Brodie. 

It  is  now  twenty-five  years  since  this  con- 
sultation occurred  and  Mr.  Goodrich  is  still 
living,  having  already  sold  his  own  writings 
seven  million  copies. t* 

"How  often,"  says  Dr.  Buchanan,  "has 
(lie  operation  of  lithotomy  been  performed 
without  finding  a  stone  in  the  bladder,  or,  if 
found,  tlie  stone  being  enc jested  and  not  re- 
moved, and  the  operation  remaining  incom- 
plete." Yet  in  surgery  this  is  legitimate.  In 
all  departments  of  surgery,  as  well  as  of  ordi- 
nary practice,  and  in  diseases,  too,  about 
v^hich  the  profession  have  been  writing  and 
investigating  for  hundreds  of  years,  grav^ 
and  serious  errors  liave  been  committed. 
"Why  not  in  a  disease  that  is  as  yet  in  its  in- 
fancy as  to  science? 

I  might  cite  ,vou  to  numerous  instances  in 
pregnancy,  from  the  medical  jui-isprudence 
of  the  country,  and  from  obstetricians,  where 
serious  and  acknowledged  errors  have  been 
committed.  Indeed,  I  know,  in  my  own  his- 
tory, of  a  case  where  two  respectable  practi- 
tioners deiibei'ately  examined  a  lady  suppos- 
ed to  be  presrnant,  and  who  was  then  in  the 
sixth  month,  but  who  declared  that  she  was 
not  pregnant,  and  that  it  was  a  foul  slander 
upon  her  character.  However,  "murder  wil) 
out."  and  in  the  course  of  time,  a  son  was  the 
result  of  their  grave  diagnosis.  This  same  pa- 
tient was  under  the  treatment  of  a  practi- 
tioner for  several  months,  but,  with  all  the 
jjouitices  and  hot  fomentations  his  genius  an.l 
skill  eoidd  bring  to  bear  upon  the  swelling,  i1 
would  not  go  down  until  nine  calendar  months 
had  duly  elapsed. 

I  might  enumerate  many  instances  in  the 
common  practice  of  our  profession,  where 
errors  in  "high  places"  are  daily  committed. 
I  will  mention  one  from  the  memorabilia  of  m_y 
own  case  book. 

Not  long  since.  I  was  called  to  see  Judge 
]\Iori'is,  of  Chicago,  who  was  at  that  time  in 
Kentucky.  I  found  him  .jaundiced  and  much 
emaciated.  He  had  been  unwell  for  manv 
months,  had  been  treated,  he  said,  by  the  fac- 
ult.v  of  Chicago,  by  some  for  a  neuralgic  af- 
fection of  the  stomach  and  liver,  and  hy 
others  for  a  spasmodic  action  of  the  "duct 
leading  from  the  liver."  He  was  finally  ad- 
vised to  travel,  but  before  reaching  Cincin- 
nati, on  his  way  to  Kentucky,  was  attacked 
in  the  cars.  At  Cincinnati  he  was  treated  bv 
Dr.  Taliaferro,  who  advised  him  to  go  to  the 


J^Goodrieh's  Recollecti( 


Lifetime,  p.  282 


Blue  Lick  Springs.  He  went  there  with  the 
liope  of  clearing  up  his  skin,  and  was  there  at- 
tacked again.  From  thence  he  went  to  Brook- 
ville,  at  which  place  I  saw  him,  in  consulta- 
tion /with  Dr.  Corlis.  He  was  then  suffering 
"with  a  severe  paroxysm  of  pain,  commencing 
in  the  right  hypocondriac  region,  branching 
ojf  to  the  shoiilder.  The  pain  was  increased 
by  motion,  and  often  after  a  meal,  pulse  near- 
ly regiilar :  and  when  these  irregiilar  attacks 
of  i)ain  would  cease,  it  was  all  of  a  sudden. 
It  goes  off  like  no  other  pain,  with  or  without 
inflammation.  After  I  had  finished  the  exam- 
ination and  had  a  conference  with  Dr.  Corlis, 
he  requested  me  to  give  an  opinion.  I  told 
him  he  was  suffering-  from  gall  stones,  passing 
from  the  liver.  "What."  said  the  patient,  "a 
quarry  in  the  liver?"  He  reminded  me  that 
each  medical  man  whom  he  had  consulted  had 
a  different  opinion,  and  that  he  did  not  know 
whom  or  what  to  believe.  I  directed  the 
nurse,  when  the  bowels  were  acted  upon  again, 
to  thin  their  contents  by  pouring  on  water, 
and  then  to  pour  out  the  contents  of  the  vessel 
on  a  white  cloth.  On  the  next  morning  the 
nurse  handed  to  the  patient  two  small  pebbles 
or  gall  stones,  one  as  large  as  a  pea,  and  the 
olher  the  size  of  a  grain  of  wheat.  On  my 
next  visit  I  found  him  cheerful  and  "ready 
to  render  unto  Ca?sar  the  things  M'hich  are 
C'tPsar's."  In  a  few  weeks  he  went  home. 
Soon-  after  he  was  eonfi.ned  to  the  bench  for 
three  or  four  weeks,  trying  the  well  known 
case  of  Green  for  the  murder  of  his  wife,  and 
was  again  attacked.  I  was  telea-raphed  to  .go 
and  see  him,  and  in  connection  with  his  attend- 
ing physician,  advised  him  to  leave  the  bench. 
He  did  so,  and  since  then  married  near  Lex- 
ington, Ky.,  and  is,  I  learn  in  good  health. 

A  correct  diagnosis  is  the  keystone  of  sue- 
cpss  in  ovariotomy,  and  the  care  with  which 
we  trace  its  parts  should  be  the  landmarks — 
tlie  corner  trees  by  which  ^ye  take  distance 
and  move  with  our  compass. 

IMuch  of  the  illiberal  opprobrium  heaped 
upon  the  operation,  and  on  operators  in  gen 
eral,  has  been  the  result  of  "itehino'  palms" 
for  professional  renown,  of  umnatured  and 
hasty  diagnosis,  and  of  the  difficulty  inexperi- 
enced operatoi's  have  had  to  get  what  infor- 
mation is  legitimately  in  the  hands  of  experi- 
ejiced  operators.  There  is  perhaps  no  disease 
incident  to  human  fle.sh  which  recpiires  so  de- 
liberate, close,  and  patient  investigation,  as 
1hat  which  relates  to  ovarian  disease.  A  drop 
of  water  falling  into  a  bucket  is  small  in  itself, 
and  scarce  worthy  of  note,  but  in  this  way 
the  bucket  may  become  full.  So  it  is  in  the 
diagnosis  of  ovarian  disease,  each  svmptom, 
however  minute  and  seemingly  of  little  conse- 
((uonce  in  itself,  if  carefully  noted  and  prop- 
erly weighed  as  a  whole,  will  generally  en- 
able us  to  arrive  at  proper  conclusions.     A";l 


US 


KESTVCKY    MEDICAL    .JOl'RXAL. 


in  1his  rule  of  action  lies  one  of  the  secrets  of 
success  in  ovariotomy.  Show  me  a  surgeon 
who  in  other  operations  may  have  his  share 
of  Miceess.  InU  ivho  has  a  snmmaiy  way  of  ex- 
amining his  patients,  and  of  dispatching  his 
(iperations,  and  I  will  show  you  one  who  is 
unsuccessful  in  ovariotomy. 

I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  importance,  and 
1  ill'  difficulties  we  encounter  in  obtaining  sucJi 
information  ns  will  guide  us  in  the  examina- 
tion of  ovarian  diseases.  Less  has  been  ■writ- 
ten about  it.  in  proportion  to  its  importance, 
than  any  class  of  diseases  known  to  the  "'heal- 
ing art."  I  shall  tlierefore  attempt,  from  my 
own  humble  experience,  and  that  of  others,  so 
to  r-hissify  the  symptoms  and  means  of  exam- 
ination, that  ""he  who  runs  may  read."'  I 
may  sa\',  however,  that  yon  may  meet  ^vith 
eases  which  for  the  time  being  may  baffle  youi- 
strongest  apprehensions  and  your  most  scruti- 
lii.^ing  examination.  T  believe  with  Dr.  Arm- 
strong, '"that  when  we  find  oui-selves  in  the 
dark,  it  is  be+ter  to  stand  still  until  the  light 
returns,"  than  to  run  the  risk  of  going  over 
a  ])reeipice.  In  other  words,  it  is  better  pru- 
dently to  wait  for  further  difficulties  by  dar- 
ing to  oppose  them."  and  in  this  age  of  won- 
ders there  is  scarcely  am-thing  insuperable. 
1  remember  to  have  read  of.  or  seen  at  some 
time,  a  picture  representing  a  party  of  men, 
tlieir  hats  and  coats  lying  by  their  side,  and, 
with  pick-ax  in  hand,  attacking  the  base  of  a 
mountain,  whose  summit  towers  far  above 
tlieir  heads.  T^e  look  again,  and  the  steam- 
liO)-se,  as  though  "the  speed  of  thought  were 
in  liis  limbs."  follows  their  footsteps  through 
tlie  bowels  of  the  earth. 

Before  commencing  the  examination  of  a 
pal^ient  supposed  to  have  ovarian  tumor,  or 
dropsy  of  the  ovaries,  it  is  important  to  have 
the  bowels  and  bladder  emptied.  If  there  is 
much  tendei-ness  or  soreness  in  handling  the 
iumor,  it  is  better  to  give  the  patient  chloro- 
form, as  it  will  enable  you,  without  pain  on 
lier  part,  to  conduct  a  more  complete  examin- 
alion.  Prior  to  this,  liowever.  sit  f|uietly 
down,  as  if  the  day  was  devoted  to  tliis  par- 
ticular purpose,  and  obtain  from  the  patient  a 
complete  history  of  the  case.  How  and  when 
the  disease  connuenced,  of  how  long  duration, 
whether  painful  or  not.  in  what  state  the  gen- 
eral health,  ^\]lether  the  menstrual  discharge 
is  I'egular.  does  the  tumor  move  from  one  side 
to  ihe  other  in  turning,  is  it,  as  far  as  you  have 
observed,  movable  at  all  has  it  by  any  course 
of  treatment  diminished  in  size,  ha,s.  it  any 
time  been  accompanied  with  swelling  of  one  or 
liotli  of  the  lower  extremities,  etc.,  etc. 

The  patient  should  be  placed  upon  the  back, 
with  the  extremities  flexed,  so  as  1o  relax  the 
abdominal  muscles.  Our  aim  must  be,  in  the 
examination,  to  ascertain  whether  the  tumor 
is  ovarian  or  not.  and  then  its  pathological 
charactei*.    Tu  two-thirds  of  the  eases  which  I 


have  examined,  I  have  found  the  tumor  to 
commence  in  the  right  or  left  iliac  fossa :  and 
the  patient  to  describe  it,  wiien  first  noticed, 
to  have  lieen  as  big  as  a  hen's  or  goose  egg. 
In  other  instances,  it  attains  to  considerable 
size  before  it  is  noticed.  I  operated  on  a  case 
last  summer,  where  the  tumor  attained  the 
Weight  of  twenty-four  pounds  in  thirteen 
months.  The  patient  did  not  know  upon 
which  side  the  tumor  commenced,  and  was  lui- 
der  the  impression  that  she  was  merely  be- 
coming fleshy,  so  little  was  she  complaining. 
In  ovarian  tumor  there  is  generally  but  littl« 
disturbance  of  the  general  health.  The  stom- 
ach, liver,  and  kidneys  generally  maintain 
their  usual  action.  So  even  with  the  menstru- 
al discharge  except  where  both  ovaries  are 
diseased. 

Dr.  Frederick  Bird  has  published  a  case, 
where  the  disease  was  of  sixteen  years' 
standing,  and  during  seven  years  of  that  time 
the  menses  disappeared,  operation,  patient  re- 
covered. 

If  fibrous  or  scirrhus  tumors  of  the  ovaria, 
the  menses  are  oftener  irregular  than  in  en- 
cysted tumors.  Occasionally  you  \vill  meet 
with  a  case,  where,  in  +he  early  part  of  the 
disease,  the  patient  suifers  with  what  she  sup- 
poses to  be  colic,  .\t  such  time,  if  the  tmnor. 
or  bowels,  is  firmly  pressed  upon,  the  pain 
)aay  b.e  traced  deep  clown  in  the  right  or  left 
iliac  fossa.  At  other  times,  from  active  exer- 
cise, or  exposure  to  a  sudden  change  of  aii- 
while  exercising,  a  diffused  soreness  will  be  felt 
over  the  bowels.  A  lady,  ^Irs.  Burns,  from 
near  ^larietta,  Ohio,  came  to  Augusta  to  con- 
sult me  for  the  treatr^ent  of  "dropsy  of  the 
bowels,"  Soon  after  her  arrival,  she  was  at- 
tacked with  ^'iolent  pain  and  great  tenderness 
of  the  abdomen,  so  much  so,  that  no  pressure 
could  be  borne  upon  the  bowels.  She  was  con- 
fined to  her  bed  for  ten  days.  I  learned  from 
her  that  such  attacks  were  frequent,  and  she 
attributed  the  present  one  to  the  travel  in  the 
cars,  or  from  the  walk  from  t\\e  boat  to  the 
hotel,  "^^len  the  pain  and  soi-eness  of  the 
bowels  had  subsided,  T  made  a  careful  examin- 
ation of  tile  case,  which  convinced  me  that  it 
was  ovarian  tumor.  "With  the  exception  of 
these  occasional  attacks,  her  general  heo.ltli 
is  good,  and  in  consequence  of  this  fact,  I  have 
not  yet  operated  upon  her. 

May  these  attacks  not  originate  from  the 
friction  of  the  tumor  against  the  peritoneum, 
causing  some  degi-ee  of  inflammation  to  set 
in  ■?  I  merely  mention  this  case,  and  may,  by 
the  way  mention  othere,  where  it  ^^ill  illus- 
trate a  fact  or  corroborate  a  principle. 

As  the  tumor  increases  in  size,  it  maintains 
a  rounded  outline,  and  is  uniformly  dull  over 
the  region  by  percussion,  in  whatever  posi- 
tion the  patient  may  be  placed.  As  it  ascends 
from  the  pe]%-ic  eavitj^  to  the  abdominal,  it 


MEDICAL    PIONEEu.S     OF     KENTUCKY 


149 


rises  in  front  of  the  bowels,  and  in  proportion 
as  it  extends  to  the  opposite  side  from  which 
it  made  it-"!  appearance,  and  spreads  out  over 
the  bowels,  will  the  dullness  be  obsei-ved  by 
percussion  in  the  same  ratio.  The  intestines 
lie  under  or  behind  the  tumor,  whilst  in 
ascites  thej-  float  on  top  of  the  liquid,  contain- 
ing, as  they  always  do,  more  or  less  gas.  In 
the  former  we  have  the  dull  sound  peculiar  to 
ovai-ian  tumor,  while  in  the  latter  the  sound 
on  percussion  will  be  resonant. 

The  more  advanced  the  disease,  and  the 
larger  the  accumulation  of  liquid,  the  thinner 
and  tighter  are  the  walls  within  which  it  is 
confined,  and  the  more  distinct  the  fliictua- 
tions.  "Even  when  the  quantity  is  small," 
says  Dr,  Watson,  "not  exceeding  a  few 
onnces,  a  little  practice  and  management 
will  enable  you  to  detect  it.  Percuss  with  one 
linger  the  most  dependent  part  of  the  cav- 
ity, and  apply  at  the  sam.e  time  a  finger  of 
the  other  hand  very  near  the  part  struck ;  and 
if  liquid  be  there,  yon  will  perceive  a  limited, 
yet  a  distinct,  fluctuation.  Tn  the  same  way, 
tlie  presence  of  liquid  in  a  small  cyst  may 
sometimes  be  ascertained."' 

The  veins  of  the  abdomen  are  increased  in 
size  and  number;  this,  however,  is  not  so 
marked  until  the  tumor  has  attained  consid- 
erable size. 

The  uni-locular  cysts  present  a  uniform  sur- 
face, whilst  the  multi-locular  have  an  uneven 
and  irre.u'nlar  surface.  In  the  uni-locular  cyst 
fluctuation  is  distinct  from  one  side  of  the  ab- 
domen to  the  other,  and  generally  per  vagin- 
am  also ;  whilst  in  the  multi-locular  it  is  dis- 
tinct only  over  a  particular  part  of  the  abdo- 
liien,  in  the  immediate  part  of  that  particular 
cyst.  I  remember  to  have  examined  a  ease 
where  fluctuation  could  not  be  felt  from  one 
side  of  the  abdomen  to  the  other,  but  was  dis- 
tinct in  a  certain  space  on  both  sides.  It  was 
not  perceptible  per  vaginam,  from  the  fact,  as 
it  proved  afterwards,  that  the  tumor  consisted 
of  three  cysts,  one  occup}dng  the  pelvis,  and 
one  on  either  side  of  the  abdomen.  In  this 
case,  the  womb  was  thrown  back  upon  the  rec- 
tum, as  it  often  is,  and  the  uterine  sound 
could  not  be  easily  introduced  until  an  assist- 
ant, standing  by  the  side  of  the  patient,  plac- 
ed his  hand  in  front  of  the  tumor  and  lifted 
it  up  with  considerable  force. 

By  this  maneuver  of  an  assistant  if  we  re- 
tain our  finger  in  the  vagina,  and  there  ar^ 
any  considerable  adhesions  to  the  womb,  or 
the  tumor  is  a  part  of  the  womb  itself,  the 
womb  will  sometimes  be  lifted  nearly  or  quite 
out  of  rea.'h  of  the  finger. 

When  the  vagina  is  elongated  and  drawn  up 
under  the  arch  of  the  pelvis,  or  the  uterus 
thrown  back  on  the  rectum,  with  an  assistant 
stationed  as  above,  we  will  be  better  enabled 
to  use  the  uterine  sound,  and  push  the  womb 
from  side  to  side,  if  there  he  no  adhesions. 


Wlien  it  is  remembered,  that  the  most  fatal 
adhesions  are  generally  found  at  the  base  of 
the  tumors,  wc  can  not  exercise  too  much  cau- 
tion in  +his  part  of  our  examination.  In  the 
diagnosis  of  uterine,  and  non-uterine  tumors, 
I  have  found  the  uterine  sound,  at  times,  in- 
dispensable. And  here  allow  me  to  describe 
its  use  in  its  inventor.  Prof.  Simpson's,  own 
language. 

"It  may  be  used  in  one  of  three  ways : 

■'1st.  The  uterus  may  be  retained  in  its 
situation,  with  the  bougie,  and  then,  by  the  as- 
sistance 0^  the  hand  above  the  pubis,  or  by 
some  fingers  in  the  vagina,  the  tumor,  if  unat- 
tached to  the  uterine  tissue,  may  be  moved 
away  from  the  fixed  uterus. 

"2nd.  The  tumor  being  left  in  its  situa- 
tion, it  may  be  possible  to  move  away  the  uter- 
us from  it  to  such  a  degree  as  to  show  them  to 
be  unconnected. 

"Or,  3rd.  Instead  of  keeping  the  uterus, 
^>olh  may  be  moved  simultaneously;  the 
uterus  by  the  sound,  and  the  tumor  by  the 
hand  or  fingers,  to  opposite  sides  of  the  pelvis, 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  give  still  more  conclus- 
ive evidence  of  the  same  fact." 

Wlien  the  tumor  is  small,  by  introducing 
tile  middle  finger  into  the  vaigina  and  the 
thumb  into  the  rectum,  we  will  lie  enabled  to 
fee]  an  elastic,  egg-like  tumor  between  the  rec- 
tum and  vagina.  It  is  sometimes  slightly 
painful  and  tender,  but  again  there  is  no  un- 
easiness manifested  to  the  touch. 

Dr.  Churchill,  in  his  Diseases  of  Women, 
says:  "If  the  finger  be  introduced  into  the 
rectum  past  the  tumor,  we  will  find  the  fun- 
dus uteri,  and  be  able  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  enlarged  ovary.  This  is  very  necessary,  or 
we  might  conclude  the  case  to  be  retroversion 
of  the  womb.  In  addition,  it  may  perhaps  en- 
able us  to  decide  whether  one  or  both  ovaries 
are  diseased." 

"It  .should  be  remembered,"  says  Dr. 
Brown,  "that  hernia  may  descend  between 
the  vagina  and  rectum,  and  feel  like  a  tumor 
in  that  region :  but  in  the  absence  of  s3anptoms 
of  strangulation,  we  must  distinguish  it  from 
ovarian  cyst  hy  the  effort  of  coughing  and 
change  of  posture,  and  by  beih'g  una^ble  to  pass 
the  finger  bej'ond  the  tumor." 

The  pressure  of  the  tumor  in  the  pelvic  eav 
ity  soraetimei?  gives  rise  to  difllculty  in  void- 
ing urine,  torpidness  of  the  bowels,  etc.  There 
are  sometimes  occasional  symptoms  of  preg- 
n.ini',y,  morning  sickness,  enlargement  of  the 
breasts,  and  sometimes  violent  pains  set  in,  re- 
sembling labor  pains.  Here  the  stethoscope 
is  our  guide,  together  with  the  time  which  has 
elapsed  since  the  commencement  of  the  dis- 
ease. A  young  lady,  upon  whom  Dr.  Dunlap 
and  myself  operated,  presented  some  of  the 
above  symptoms,  and  it  produced  no  little 
commotion  in  the  community  among  whom  fiho 
lived. 


150 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOVRXAI . 


There  is  anothei-  means  of  diagnosis  and  ex- 
airiination  to  whieb  in  invite  your  careful  at- 
tention and  cultivation.  It  is  the  sense  of 
touch,  or  pressure  upon  the  abdomen,  with 
the  the  ends  of  the  fingers.  If  we  percuss  or 
press  firmly,  and  in  quick  succession,  with  the 
ends  of  the  fingers  over  an  ovarian  cyst,  there 
is,  at  the  cessation  of  pei-cussion.  or  pressure, 
an  elastic  sensation — a  rebound  to  the  senti- 
ent extremities  of  the  fingers — a  resisting  or 
reSeeting  back  of  the  fingers,  in  the  distended 
cyst;  whilst  in  ascites  there  is  not  the  same 
elastic  response  to  the  finger.  In  fibrous  tu- 
Tiuirs  and  enlargement  of  the  spleen,  there  is  a 
doughy,  fleshy  sensation  to  the  fingers,  which 
is  niore  easilv  felt  by  the  pi-acticed  finger  than 
described.  This  means  of  diagnosis  requires 
practice  of  the  fingers,  as  it  does  to  distin- 
guish the  different  shades  of  the  pulse.  Of 
this  diagnostic  sisn.  Dr.  "Watson  says: 

' '  If  you  prpss  suddenly  with  the  tips  of  the 
fingers  in  a  direction  perpendicular  to  the  sur- 
face, a  sensation  which  it  is  difficult  to  de- 
scribe in  words,  yet  which  is  quite  decisive, 
and  not  to  be  mistaken,  a  sensation  of  the  dis- 
placement of  liquid  and  of  the  impinging  of 
your  fingers  upon  some  solid  substance  be- 
low." 

The  same  writer  fi;rther  states,  in  reference 
to  Ihe  senses: 

"You  will  find  what  previous  to  positive 
trial  you  might  not  suspect,  that  the  senses, 
the  eye,  the  ear,  the  toiich.  however  sharp  or 
delicate  they  may  naturally  be.  reciuire  a 
special  course  of  training  and  education,  be- 
fore their  evidence  can  Ije  trusted  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  disease." 

Dr.  Latham  says.  (I  quote  fi-om  Bennett. "i 
with  equal  truth,  that  the  "knowledge  of  the 
senses  is  the  best  kuo^yledge,  but  the  delusions 
of  the  senses  are  the  worst  delusions." 

Swelling  of  the  lower  extremities  we  some- 
times meet  with,  both  in  early  and  later  stages 
of  the  disease.  This  originates  from  the  pres- 
sin-f  of  the  tumor  upon  the  vessels  which  re- 
turn the  blood  to  the  heart.  See  case  of  ^frs. 
V.Uliams,  of  Indiana,  and  ^Irs.  Martin,  of 
Maysville.  Ky.  In  the  latter  case,  ascites, 
swilling  of  the  limbs,  and  ovarian  tumor  co- 
exist. 

AAlien  we  have  diagnosed  the  disease  as 
ovarian  tumor,  next  in  importance  is  the  ex- 
tent of  adhesions  and  the  prospect  of  its  re- 
moval. Perhaps  the  .<^uide  of  no  author  is  bet- 
tor, or  the  experience  of  any  individiwl  more 
to  be  relied  upon,  than  that  of  Air.  Brown, 
of  Edinburgh,  in  his  tests  for  adhesions.  Af- 
ter placing  the  patient  on  the  back,  with  the 
(■\i remit ies  flexed,  .so  as  to  relax  the  ahdominal 
jiarietes,  he  directs  the  cyst  to  l)e  moved  from 
si^le  to  side.  If  this  were  readily  done,  he 
knew  tluit  there  were  no  adhesions.  He  then 
jn-essod  firmly  over  the  relaxed  parietes,  and 
moved  them  ovpr  the  cyst :  if  they  were  read- 


ily moved,  he  knew  there  were  no  adhesions 
on  the  upper  and  lateral  surfaces  of  the  cyst. 
He  then  g'-asps  and  puckers  up  tlie  parietes, 
and  moves  them  over  the  cyst,  and  .saw  if  they 
v.-ere  gathered  up  readily,  without  raising  the 
cyst  itself.  He  then  requires  the  patient  to 
take  a  full  inspiration,  and  if  there  be  no  ad- 
hesions to  th'^  extent  of  an  inch,  the  place 
])reviously  or-eupied  by  the  tumor  being  taken 
up  by  the  intestines,  a  dull  sound  over  that 
region  is  elicited  by  percussion  during  ordi- 
nary respiration  ;  but  when  the  patient  takes 
a  deep  in.spiratiou,  an  intestinal  resonance  is 
There  perceptible. 

"Freedom  of  motion  in  the  tumor,"  says 
Dr.  L^nnau  "though  not  altogether  decisivp,  is 
indicative  of  *\\e  absence  of  adhesions."  It  is 
now  one  of  the  fixed  facts,  that  the  most  dan- 
gerous and  insupei'able  adhesions  are  general- 
ly found  at  the  base  of  the  tumor,  and  found, 
too.  when  the  tumor  is  easily  moved  from  side 
to  side.  The  ease  of  Dieft'enbach.  Beidiu..  is  in 
p.oint.  Here  +he  tumor  wa,s  movable  in  eveiw 
direction,  and  partly  on  its  own  axis  even:  tho 
operation  was  commeneed.  but  abandoned,  on 
account  of  the  difficult  adhesions  to  the  ver- 
tebral column.  The  patient,  after  much  dif- 
ficulty recovered 

"We  might,  also,  refer  to  the  case  of  Page, 
\vhere  the  tumor  was  movable,  operation  com- 
menced, cyst  evacuated  and  drawn  partly  out. 
when  it  was  found  adherent  to  the  "surround- 
ing parts  about  the  pedicle,  and  to  several 
inches  of  intestines  "  The  operation  was  aban- 
doned, and  the  patient  died. 

If  I  can  satisfy  myself,  and  I  generally  can 
by  the  uterine  sound  and  bv  other  means,  that 
the  adhesions  at  the  base  of  the  tumor  are  not 
insuperable,  the  immovability  of  the  upper 
portion  would  not  alwavs  deter  me  from  op- 
erating. See  the  case  of  Dr,  Dunlap  and  my- 
self. Airs,  Lastley.  Portsmouth.  Ohio.  Twelve 
months  before  Dr.  Dunlap  and  I  performed 
the  operation.  Dr.  Kinibro.  of  Lowell.  Alassa- 
chusetts.  attempted  the  operation  and  opened 
tlie  abdomen :  Init  finding,  as  he  did,  a  mass  of 
adhesions  at  the  superior  part  of  the  tumor, 
abandoned  the  operation  and  closed  up  the 
wound.  In  this  case,  the  upper  part  of  i\\<^ 
ttnnor  was  immovable,  but,  after  a  careful 
and  diligent  examination  by  both  of  \is,  we  de- 
cided that  the  adhesions  at  the  base  of  the  tu- 
.•aor.  if  any  at  all,  were  very  slight.  The  case 
was  successful,  but  required  the  application 
of  twelve  ligatures  to  the  superior  adhesions, 
M-hieh  were  principally  peritoneal.  It  gives 
me  mu.eh  pleasure  to  state  that  this  accom- 
plished iaily  is  now,  nearly  a  year  after  the 
operation,  in  good  health. 

In  another  case  of  Dr.  Dunlap 's  and  mine. 
Afrs.  Kamsey,  of  AA'inehester  Ohio,  operation 
performed  November  15,  1855,  a  large  multi- 
locular  tumor,  weighing  sixtv  pounds  after  its 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY. 


151 


removal,  so  completely  filled  up  tke  abdomen 
and  packed  itseff  .into  the  pelvis,  that  it  was 
imp(;ssible  to  ascertain  the  extent  of  the  ad- 
hesions. Fluctuation,  however,  was  distinct 
in  each  cyst,  and  after  discharging  their  eon- 
ieuts,  we  came  upon  one  of  several  adhesions 
near  the  pedicle,  which  was  attached  to  the 
peritoneum  with  a  tapering-  neck,  as  it  near- 
ed  the  tumor,  so  much  so,  that  a  shoulder,  oi 
button-like  piece,  was  dissected  out  of  the  tu- 
mor to  prevent  the  ligature  from  slipping  off. 
The  case  did  well,  and  the  patient  is  now  ir. 
good  health. 

A  further  test  of  Dr.  Frederic  Bird  for  su- 
perior adhesions,  I  have  found  to  be  a  valu- 
able one,  namely,  by  putting  the  abdominal 
muscles  in  action,  and  noticing  whether  they 
ri?e  much  from  the  surface  of  the  tumor.  Thus 
if  the  patient,  while  lying  on  her  back,  be  told 
to  raise  herself  up  in  bed  without  Tising  her 
arms,  tlie  recti-muscles  will  start  up  into  a 
prominent  band,  if  their  sheath  is  not  tied 
down  by  adhesions  ou  its  peritoneal  surface, 
but  not  if  it  is  tied  clown. 

JDr.  Washington  Atlee,  in  an  article  publish- 
ed in  the  American  Medical  Journal,  places 
consideralile  reliance  on  the  pulsation  of  the 
tumor  itself,  or  the  "aortic  impulse  as  being 
moi-e  manifest  in  solid  or  encysted  growths 
than  in  cases  of  ascites. 

Before  1  leave  this  part  of  our  diagnosis,  T 
wish  to  say  an  additional  word  in  reference  to 
percussion.  Among  those  who  are  expert  in 
their  perception  of  ovarian  tumors,  and  they 
are  few  and  far  between,  perhaps  as  much,  if 
not  more  importance  is  attached  to  the  use  ot 
percussion  than  to  any  other  symptom  or  set 
of  symptoms.  We  have,  over  the  umbilical 
region,  in  ovarian  tumor,  in  whatsoever  posi- 
tion yon  place  the  patient,  a  dull  sound  on 
percussion ;  whilst  in  one  or  both  of  the  flanks 
we  have  the  resonance  peculiar  to  the  intes- 
tines. This  diagnostic  evidence  is,  perhaps, 
junety-nine  times  in  a  hundred,  correct  in 
reference  to  tumors.  Dr.  Watson,  however, 
gives  us  an  anomalous  case,  which  is  a  rare 
illustration  as  an  exception.  "The  history  of 
the  case  was  the  histoiy  of  ovarian  tumor;" 
yet,  continues  he,  "the  umbilical  region,  when 
percussed,  always  rendered  a  hoUow  sound." 
L''pon  the  death  of  the  patient  the  mystery 
was  solved :  air  hissed  forth  from  the  opening 
made  by  the  scalpel  through  the  abdominal 
parietes,  and  an  ovarian  cyst  of  considerable 
magnitude  was  found  adhering  to  the  peri- 
tojieum  in  front  of  the  belly,  and  containing 
no  liquid,  but  some  yellowish  shreds  only. 
This  ovarian  bag  had  been  filled  with  air, 
which  had  given  rise  to  the  equivocal  soutfcLs. 
Th;>  air,  it  is  supposed  by  the  author,  wms 
formed  from  the  decomposition  of  a  degener- 
at,e  cyst  wnthin. 

T  have  alluded  to  the  examination  per 
vaginam  ei  ner  rectum,  but  perhaps  not  so 


specifically  as  its  merits  demands.  You  will 
often  be  enabled  by  the  finger  to  detect  fluctu- 
ation in  a  cyst,  and  as  frequently  to  detect  a 
filjrous  tumor  of  the  ovaria  from  a  uterine 
one. 

.\llow  me  to  cite  a  case :  Miss  Strader, 
formerly  of  JMaseon,  Ohio,  but  then  of  Cin- 
cinnati, came  to  A.ugusta  to  consult  me  about 
the  proprietj'  of  an  operation  for  what  her 
pliysicians  pronounced  ovarian  tumor.  On 
examination  T  found  the  tumor  occupying  the 
central  and  right  side  of  the  abdomen.  It 
was  easily  moved  in  any  direction  without 
any  apparent  pain.  There  was  no  fluctuation, 
aJidthe  ease  mi\\\  which  the  tumor  could  be 
lifted  out  and  turned  from  side  to  side,  made, 
for  the  moment,  an  impression  on  my  mind 
that  although  perhaps  fibrous,  with  a  narrow 
pedicle,  it  would  justify  an  operation.  But 
remembering  my  motto,  which  heads  this  ar- 
ticle on  diagnosis,  "He  that  thinketh  he 
statideth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall,"  I  proceeded 
to  other  tests.  On  introducing  the  finger  into 
the  vagina,  T  found  it  completely  tilled  up 
with  an  obtuse  lobe  of  the  tumor,  dipping 
deep  down  into  the  pelvis.  At  first  I  thought 
it  might  be  retroversion  of  the  womb,  but  by 
a  rectal  examination,  I  found  a  smaller  lobe 
I)ressing  upon  tlie  rectum,  which  seemed  to 
sprout  off  from  the  lobe  in  the  vagina  in  a 
pei'pendicidar  direction.  I  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  was  an  intra-murul  tumor  of 
the  uterus,  forming  in  the  walls,  and  extend- 
ing both  upward  and  inward.  The  patient  re- 
turned home,  but  came  back  a  second  time,  in- 
sisting still  upon  an  operation.  I  wrote  a 
note  to  Dr  Dunlap,  who  came  and  examined 
the  case  with  me.  He  formed  a  similar  eon- 
elusion  to  the  one  I  have  just  expressed.  Miss 
Strader  was  subsequently  examined  by  Profs. 
jMarshall  and  Bayless,  of  Cincinnati,  and 
since  then  by  Dr.  Washington  Atlee,  of  Phila- 
delphia, as  "will  be  seen  from  the  following 
note : 

Philadelphia,  Nov.  9,  1854. 
"Dear  Sir: 

Your  patient,  Miss  Strader,  presented  her- 
self to  me  to-day.  and,  upon  examination,  1 
have  arrived  at  the  same  conclusion  you  did 
— that  is,  a  fibrous  tumor  of  the  uterus.  The 
uterus,  however,  can  not  be  clearly  diagnosed, 
and  consequently  as  the  relation  of  the  tumor 
with  it  can  not  be  defined,  no  operation  ought 
t'i  be  recommended. 

Yours,  truly, 
Washington  Atlee, 

418  Arch  Street. 

J.  Tavlor  Bradford.  M.  D. 


ASCITES  AND  OVARIAN  TUMOR. 

The  distinguishing  characteristics  of  ascites 
as  compared  with  ovarian  tumor  are  import- 
ant. It  is  not  always  an  easy  matter  to  distiu- 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     .JOURNAL. 


^uisli  Ix'twpi'ii  the  I  wo.  and  it  has  once  occur- 
r.'i!  to  mc  to  c'licountcr  moi'c  difficulty  in  de- 
ciding between  ascites  and  ovarian  tumor, 
than  it  was  to  establish  a  correct  diagnosis 
l>etwcen  uterine  and  ovari;m  disease. 

lii  the  maturity  of  both  diseases,  when  the 
a'idonien  is  distended  to  its  utmost,  many  of 
tilt  symptoms  which  assist  and  guide  us  in 
the  early  stages,  are  lost.  The  ovarian  cyst 
llie;i  loses  its  circumscribed  and  lateral  pre 
l)onderanee,  and  a^'commodates  its  groavth  to 
ilie  inequalities  and  recesses  of  the  abdominal 
cavity. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  ascites,  we  generally 
i\\\  '.  an  equable  enlargement  of  the  abdomen 
on  both  sides,  M'hilst  in  ovarian  tumor  the 
swelling  is  circiunseribed,  and  confined 
iiiostty  to  one  or  the  other  side.  In 
ascites  there  is  more  constant  and  imin- 
terrupted  tenderness  of  the  peritoneum, 
'•y  pressing  firmly  and  quickly  with  the  ends 
of  the  fingers,  whilst  in  ovarian  tumor  it  is 
only  occasionally  Ihe  ease.  In  ascites  the  gen- 
er:il  liealth  is  sooner  and  more  seriously  dis- 
turbed, whereas  in  ovarian  tumor  it  often  re- 
mains good  for  months,  or  even  years.  In 
ascites  the  secretion  fi'om  the  kidneys  is  usu- 
ally scant  and  defective,  whereas  in  ovarian 
tumor,  except  in  the  rapidly  enlarging  cases, 
there  is  but  little  change.  In  ascites  we  find 
till'  patient  oftener  with  a  dry  skin,  thirst,  and 
a  ]nore  fi'equent  and  irregular  pulse,  whereas 
ir,  ovarian  tumor  They  are  only  oeeasionally 
if  at  all,  present.  In  ascites  we  can  generally 
trace  the  cause  of  the  disten.sion  to  some  car 
diac,  renal,  hepatic,  or  other  organic  af- 
fection, whereas  in  ovarian  tumor,  if  of  long 
duration,  the  mystery  is  how  the  patient  car- 
ries twenty,  thirty,  forty,  or  even  sixty 
pounds,  without  constant  complaining.  In 
ascites  the  bowels,  always  containing  more  or 
less  gas,  float  to  the  surface  of  the  fluid,  whilst 
in  ovarian  tumor  they  lie  behind  or  undei'- 
neath  the  tumor.  "\Ye  have,  then,  on  percus- 
sion, in  ascites,  whatever  position  the  patient 
assumes,  the  resonant  or  hollow  sound  pecul- 
iar to  the  intestines,  which  remain  uppermost, 
with  corresponding  dullness  below.  In 
ovarian  tiunoi-  we  have  the  dull  sound  over  the 
region  of  the  umbilical  or  latero-umbilieal 
and  latero-pubic,  in  whatever  position  the  pa- 
tient may  take:  or,  as  ^Ir.  Brown  more  strik- 
ingly describes  it,  "want  of  resonance  in  the 
lowest  part,  in  all  positions,  with  tympanitic 
sound  in  the  highest,  in  all  positions,  .indi- 
cates a.scites." 

To  these  characteristics,  usually  considered 
so  important.  Dr.  Watson  has  given  us  some 
anomalous  and  interesting  exceptions.  In  one 
rase  the  distension  in  ascites  was  so  great  that 
Ihe  mesentery  was  not  broad  enough  to  allow 
the  buoyant  intestines  to  reach  the  surface, 
when  the  patient  was  supine.     In  this  ease, 


then,  instead  of  the  resonance  peculiar  to  the 
intestines,  it  gave  a  muffled  or  dull  sound. 

The  second  case  was  found,  upon  post  mor- 
tem examination,  to  be  ascites,  where  the 
"omentum  had  formed  into  a  thick  cake," 
and  was  "strapped  tightly  over  the  subjacent 
intestines."  Here,  of  course,  we  would  have 
a  dull  sound,  although  ascites  existed. 

He  alludes  to  another  possible  contingency, 
in  wdiich  the  sounds  by  percussion  would  be 
equall}'  deceptive.  This  may  occur  in  conse- 
quence of  the  "adhesion  of  the  various  coils 
of  intestine  to  each  other,  and  the  parts  be- 
hind them."  Such  cases,  however,  fortunate- 
ly for  the  diagnosis  of  ascites,  are  very  rare, 
and  I  do  not  know  a  single  author,  save  that 
rare  teacher  and  profound  thinker.  Dr.  Wat- 
son, ^^'ho  has  met  with  them. 

I  have  now  a  patient,  I\Irs.  Kenyon,  oppo- 
site Vaneeburg,  Kentucky,  whose  abdomen  is 
very  much  distended,  and  the  history  of 
whose  disease  is  purely  ovarian.  It  has  been 
of  nearly  three  years'  standing.  The  general 
habit  it  but  very  little  distiirbed,  and  the 
sound  elicited  by  percussion  over  the  entire 
abdomen  is  resonant,  except  oecasionalh', 
when,  just  below  the  umbilicus,  a  thickening 
of  the  parietes,  or  what  feels  more  like  the 
"omentum  cake,"  takes  place,  over  which  a 
dull  sound  ^^nll  be  elicited  imtil  it  subsides, 
which  it  generally  does  in  two  or  three  weeks. 
The  usual  and  general  approved  remedies  for 
ascites  have  not  decreased  the  size  of  the  ab- 
domen. It  is  clearly,  in  my  mind,  not 
ovarian,  but  ascites;  but  to  what  may  it  be 
attributed?* 

When,  in  either  ascites  or  ovarian  tumor, 
the  quantity  of  liquid  is  small,  fluctuation  by 
the  usual  mode  is  not  always  distinct.  In  such 
cases,  we  will  find  the  mode  of  IMr.  Tarral.  as 
detailed  by  Professor  Wood,  worthy  of  use. 
It  consists  in  appl.ving  the  thumb  and  middle 
finger  of  the  same  hand,  upon  the  surface,  and 
percussing  with  the  index  finger  between 
them. 

The  test,  already  alluded  to.  of  Dr.  Bird, 
of  London,  with  reference  to  adhesions  in 
ovarian  tumor,  I  have  found  to  be  one  among 
the  most  convincing  tests  in  ascites :  and  I  do 
not  now  recollect  any  writer  who  has  alluded 
to  it  as  one  of  the  tests  in  that  disease.  That 
is,  if  the  patient,  whilst  lying  upon  her  bed, 
be  directed  to  raise  herself  up  in  lied  without 
using  her  arms,  the  fluid  vdW  bulge  up  prom- 
inently between,  and  laterally  to,  the  recti 
muscles,  whilst  in  ovarian  tumor,  on  account 
of  the  circum_scribed  sac,  it  ^\"ill  not  admit  of 
such  a  degree  of  prominence.  The  parietes 
of  the  abdomen  will  admit  of  considerable  ex- 
tension, whereas  the  sac  and  the  recti  muscles 

*I  have  tapped  this  Indy  twice,  a-nd  with  the  application 
of  a  lisht  bandage  after  the  second  tapping,  she  has  entirely 
recovered. 


MEDICAL     PIONEEKS     OF     KEXTUCKY. 


153 


will  not  admit  of  the  same  marked  protuber- 
iuiee  and  inequality. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  ovarian  tumor 
and  ascites  exist  together.  I  have  met  with 
one  remarkable  case  of  this  kind,  Mrs.  Martin, 
of  ilaysville,  Kentucky.  By  pressing  firmly 
with  the  ends  of  the  fingers,  the  ascitic  fluid 
was  readily  displaced,  and  a  tumor  of  the  left 
ovary  found  floating  in  the  surrounding 
ii(]Lnd.  The  patient  was  sixty  years  old,  and 
the  disease  had  progressed  so  far,  and  the  gen- 
eral health  so  much  declined,  that  I  did  not 
advise  or  solicit  an  operation.  She  lived  but 
a  few  weeks  aifter  I  saw  her,  and  no  post  mor- 
tem examination  was  obtained.  In  response 
1(1  a  circular  addressed  to  the  physicians  of 
Kentucky  by  myself,  I  received  from  Dr. 
Dimmit,  of  Lewisburg,  an  intelligent  and 
promising  physician  of  that  place,  and  whose 
piitient  she  had  been  up  to  the  time  of  her  re- 
iT'Oval  to  Maysville,  the  following  history  of 
the  case : 

"T  saw  her  for  the  first  time  three  years 
ago.  at  which  time  the  tumor,  occupying  the 
left  side,  was  firm,  movable,  and  dropsical. 
The  disease  appeared  subsequent  to  the  ces- 
sation of  the  eatamenia.  Her  general  health 
at  that  time  was  moderately  good.  She  suf- 
fei'ed  at  times  extreme  pain  in  the  region  of 
the  tumor,  ai,  which  time  a  nervous  train  of 
symptoms,  resembling  hysteria,  set  in." 

I  saw  l\Irs.  Martin  in  one  of  the  nervous  at- 
tacks alluded  to  by  Dr.  Dimmit.  She  would 
lie  for  a  time  motiomless  and  apparently  life- 
less, but  would  retain  her  consciousness 
throughout  the  paroxysm.  The  attacks  were 
superinduced  by  pain,  fright,  or  excitement 
of  any  kind.  I  merely  quote  this  case  to  illus- 
trate how  nnlike  different  persons  may  be  af- 
fected by  the  same  disease,  and  that  ovarian 
tumor  is  not  without  its  collaterals  and  con- 
comitants in  the  nervous  system. 

It  may  appear  to  you  that  I  have  dwelt  un- 
reasonably long  upon  the  diagnosis  of  this 
' 'hydra  of  calamities,"  and  the  cases  cited 
by  way  of  illustration  may,  for  the  time  being, 
appear  irrelevant,  but  these  cases  and  these 
symptoms  and  tests,  may  one  day  meet  you  at 
the  bedside. 

DISEASES  LIABLE  TO  BE  MISTAKEN 
von  OVARIAN  DROPSY. 

Dr.  Brown,  in  his  excellent  work  on 
''Surgical  Diseases  of  Women,"  classes  these 
diseases  as  follows: 

1.  Retroversion  and  retroflection  of  the 
uterus ; 

2.  Tumors  of  the  uterus — a.  solid,  h.  fibro- 
cystic ; 

.'I.     Ascites ; 

4.  Pregnancy ; 

5.  Pregnancy,  complicated  with  ovariav; 
dropsy; 


6.  Cystic  tumors  of  the  abdomen ; 

7.  Distended  bladder; 

8.  Accumulation  of  gas  in  the  intestines ; 

9.  Accumulation  of  feces  in  the  intestines : 
jO.     Enlargement   of  the  liver,   spleen,   or 

kidneys,  or  tumor  connected  with  these 
viscera ; 

11.  Recto -vaginal  hernia,  and  displace- 
ment of  the  ovary; 

12.  Pelvic  abscess; 

13.  Retention  of  the  menstrual  fluid  from 
imperforate  hymen: 

11.     Ilydrometra. 

A  description  of  these  different  diseases, 
under  their  particular  class  in  the  different 
medical  works,  will  generally  enable  you,  if 
not  possessed  of  the  "tumor  mania,"  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  ovarian  dropsy.  I  shall 
only  allude  to  a  few  of  them  in  which  I  may 
have  had  some  personal  experience. 

1^'rom  what  I  have  read  and  observed,  I  am 
inclined  to  the  belief  that  malignant  disease 
of  the  ovary  is  very  rare.  I  have  met  with 
but  one  ease.  This  was  a  patient  of  Dr. 
Duke's,  of  Maysville,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  M.. 
Upon  examination  I  found  a  large,  uneven, 
but  solid  tumor,  occupying  the  left  side,  and 
extending  up  to  the  umbilicus.  It  was  par- 
ticularly firm,  with  numerous  obtuse  lobes 
jirojeeting  upward;  rather  tender  to  the 
touch,  and  so  completely  adhei*ent  to  the 
surrounding  parts,  particularly  to  the  womb, 
that  l>ut  little  if  any  movement  could  be  ef- 
fected. An  examination  per  vaginam  reveal- 
ed the  same  hardened  and  uneven  surface. 
The  pain  and  suffering  were  vei*y  great,  gen- 
eral health  bad,  and  that  peculiar  cast  of 
countenance  which  indicates  a  system  worn 
down  by  malignant  disease.  Soon  after  I  saw 
hei',  I  learned  from  Dr.  Duke  that  the  tumor 
had  grown  so  rapidly,  and  infringed  so  seri- 
ously upon  the  bladder,  that  it  was  almost  im- 
possible to  pass  the  catheter,  which  for  some 
time,  had  been  the  only  means  of  passing 
urine.  No  post  mortem  examination  was  ob- 
tained. 

WTien  we  add  to  the  albove  symptoms  that 
in  cancerous  growths,  the  tumor  is  uneven  in 
its  gi-owth,  the  pain  and  soreness  much 
greater  than  in  other  forms  of  disease,  the 
general  cachectic,  and  sallow  complexion,  the 
peculiar  hardness  and  rapidity  of  its  growth, 
the  general  health  and  strength  soon  wasted, 
wt  will  have  but  little  difficulty  in  determin- 
ing its  nature. 

I  have  already  directed  your  attention  to 
the  case  of  Prince,  where  a  patient  was  oper- 
ated on  for  ovarian  dropsy,  which  proved, 
upon  post  mortem  examination,  to  be  a  tu- 
mor of  the  spleen. 

I  was  once  consulted  in  a  case,  ]\Irs.  , 

of  Boone  County,  Kentucky,  which  a  numbei- 
of  physicians  had  pronoiineed  ovarian.     She 


151 


KE  XTFCKY     ME  Die  A  L     JO  URXAL. 


came  to  Augusta.  I  fciiud.  upon  examiua- 
tion,  the  abdoiiKni  enormoiisly  distended,  the 
tiDuoi-  rearliinir  from  the  pubis  to  the  ensi- 
forin  eartilagre.  and  ocevipying  almost  the  en- 
tire side.  Upon  pressure,  a  hard  or  dough)' 
feel  was  imparted  to  the  tinger.  There  wa.i 
no  iluetiiation  manifest,  and  a  dull  sound  was 
elicited  upon  jiereussion  throughout  the  ab- 
domen, except  the  right  h^-pogastric  region. 
The  tumor  was  movable,  and  upon  dipping 
the  finger  deep  down  between  the  pubis  and 
the  tumor,  a  "eaetus-like"'  lobe  of  the  tumor 
was  felt,  which  could  be  slightly  raised  with- 
out an  apparent  pain.  The  symptoms  gener- 
ally were  obscure.  She  complained  but  little 
except  from  the  weight,  which  could  not  be 
less  than  twenty  pounds.  Examination  per 
vaginam  revealed  no  sign  of  a  tumor  in  the 
pelvic  cavity.  But  little  was  known  about 
the  history  of  the  case  with  the  exception  of 
patient's  avowal  that  it  commenced  on  the 
'"left  side.  imm.ediately  mider  the  ribs,"  and 
was  of  two  vears'  standing.  The  "cactus" 
or  notched-like  feel  of  the  tumor,  together 
with  the  condition  of  the  pelvic  organs,  and 
the  history  of  the  e.ise,  led  me  to  the  conclus- 
ion that  it  was  not  ovarian  disease,  but  en- 
largement of  the  spleen,  h^•pertrophy.  I  have 
since  understood  that  the  family  have  moved 
"We.st,  and  have  lost  the  history  of  the  case. 

I  saw  another  well-:narked  case  of  diseased 
spleen  in  the  daiigliter  of  ^Ir.  .  of  Nicho- 
las County,  which  had  been  diagnosed  as 
ovarian  tumor. 


OVARIAN     TUMOR— PREG.nANCY     CO- 
EXISTING. 

In  the  Transactions  of  the  American  [Medic- 
al Association,  1851,  Atlee's  tables,  is  a  case 
of  Dr.  Atlee's,  where  the  patient  was  two 
inoiiths  pregnant  at  the  time  of  operation. 
No  miscarriage.  Tumor  weighed  eiglity-one 
j)Ounds.    Died  of  starvation. 

In  the  ^fcdico-Chirurgical  Transactions, 
vol.  30.  is  a  case  of  Dr.  Bird,  where  there  was 
no  sign  of  pregnancy :  operation  performed ; 
weight  of  tumor  fifty  pounds;  abortion  sec- 
ond day ;  recovered,  and  had  a  child  subse- 
(|uently. 

-\CCT'lin..\TIOX   OF   FECES   IN  THE   BO^^'ELS. 

In  Prof.  Cfross'  Pathological  Anatomy,  a 
remarkable  case  is  related,  as  oceurriug  in  the 
7)ractice  of  Dr.  Lean,  of  Columbia,  South 
T'arolina.  It  occurred  in  a  young  lady  aged 
twenty-five  yeai-s.  No  ahnne  evacuation  had 
been  had  for  nine  weeks.  Upon  a  post  mor- 
tem examination  the  intestines  were  found 
enormonsly  distended :  colon,  duodenum  and 
ileum  measuring  thirteen  and  one-half  inches 
iii  circviinference  the  quantity  of  fecal  matter 
amounted  to  nearly  seven  gallons. 

^Ir.  Brandle  relates  a  case  where  the  fecal 


accnmulation  irapaoted  in  the  colon  amount- 
ed to  thirty-three  pounds. 

Mr.  Brown  says:  "I  once  saw  a  case  of  sim- 
ple encysted  ovarian  dropsy,  which,  in  its 
earliest  stage,  was  considered  by  a  veiy  dis- 
tinguished surgeon,  in  London,  to  be  accumu- 
lation of  feces." 

I  mention  these  eases  that  you  may  be  on 
your  guard  end  not  mistake,  as  some  prom- 
ine]it  English  surgeons  have  done,  fecal  ac- 
cniuulation  for  ovarian  tumor. 

In  1S54,  wliiLst  attending  the  State  :\Iedica] 
Society  in  Covington,  Ky.,  I  visited,  with  Di'. 
Chambers,  a  patient  of  his  lalioring  under  dis- 
ease of  the  omentum.  The  abdomen  was  con 
siderably  enlarged,  with  some  degree  of 
ascites,  but  by  displacing  the  liquid  by  per- 
cussing firmly  with  the  ends  of  his  finger,-, 
that  peculiar  knotted  or  rigid  feel  which 
characterizes  enlargement  of  the  omentum 
was  manifest.  The  history  of  the  case,  the 
jioint  at  which  it  first  made  its  appearance,  to- 
gether with  that  ridged  or  serrated  feel  of 
transverse  lines.  M-ith  more  pain  and  tender- 
ness than  is  usually  the  ease  with  ovarian  tu- 
laor,  enabled  me  to  decide  in  my  oaxti  mind 
that  the  disease  was  omental  and  malignant. 

I  have  .seen  one  ease  of  this  since,  a  patient 
of  Dr.  Adamson.  of  ^laysville,  Kentuela-.  The 
disease  in  this  case  presented  the  above  char- 
acteristics, except  that  it  was  more  uneven  in 
surface,  lumpy  and  knotty,  with  all  the  lead- 
irig  indications  of  true  malignancy.  No  post 
mortem  examination  was  obtained. 


LETTEPvS   FROil   SUPGEOXS   ANT)    OP- 
ERATOES. 

Th.e  following  letters,  which  I  trust  will 
]5rove  of  much  interest  on  this  subject,  have 
fallen  into  miy  hands  in  answer  to  inquiries 
ill  search  of  stati.sties  on  ovariotomy. 

Philadelphia.  Jan.  24,  1854. 
"\Iy  Dear  Sir  : 

Your  interesting  letter  came  to  hand  last 
month,  hut  has  not  been  replied  to.  in  conse- 
quence of  my  numerous  and  various  engage- 
ments, and  depression  of  spirits  from  domes- 
tie  affliction.  T  regret  that  I  shall  not  be  able 
to  render  vou  much  assistance  in  the  investiga- 
tion you  are  engaged  in. 

Some  years  ago  I  took  a  lively  interest  in 
the  subject,  from  having  carefully  examined 
Dr.  Bird 's  preparations  in  London,  and  from 
having  read  Play's  and  other's  works  sent  me 
by  their  authors.  Being,  however,  rather  out 
of  the  line  of  my  studies  and  practice,  I  have 
not  recently  turned  my  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject— not  enoijgh,  certainly,  to  justify  my  of- 
fering any  decid<^d  sentiments  in  relation  to 
it.  especially  as  I  have  never  performed  or 
■witnessed  the  operation.     The  books,   more- 


MEDICAL    PIONEEF 


01 


KENTUCKY 


155 


over,  referred  tc,  T     forwarded     some     years 
since  to  Dr.  John  L.  Atlee,  of  Lancaster. 

In  conversing  a  few  days  since  with  that 
distinguished  gentleman,  I  took  the  liberty  to 
show  him  your  letter  and  to  ask  him  for  sta- 
tistics. He  referred  me  at  once  to  his 
brother's.  Dr.  Washington  Atlee,  writings, 
which  embodied  everA^hing  known,  he  re- 
mai-ked,  iipon  the  subject,  including  Dr.  Lee'.s 
statistics.  These  I  will  get  and  send  you  mth 
out  delay. 

I  will  only  add  that  I  have  no  prejudice  to 
(;outend  with  in  the  matter.  My  feelings,  ] 
confess,  are  in  favor  of  the  operation  in 
proper  oases;  and  I  would  not  hesitate  to  per- 
form it  if  called  upon,  after  due  study  and 
preparation,  for  I  have  a  strong  conviction, 
derived  from  my  two  successful  cases  of  Cie- 
sarean  section,  saving  both  mother  and  child, 
that  little  danger  is  to  be  apprehended  from 
oi)ening  the  abdomen,  provided  the  peri- 
toneum be  carefully  handled,  and  ordinary 
skill  and  prudence  be  exercised  in  the  opera- 
tion. 

The  views  thus  given  I  do  not  consider 
worth  making  known.  I  have  no  objection, 
nevertheless,  if  you  think  luy  authority  in  col- 
lateral matters  of  any  weight,  that  my  name  be 
used  in  accordance  with  the  remarks  above 
stated. 

The  case  you  are  about  to  publish  is  cer- 
tainly a  verj'  interesting  one,  and  I  shall  take 
great  pleasure  in  reading  it. 

"With  great  respect,  I  am  yours. 

W.  Gibson. 

Philadelphia,  ilarch  27.  1859. 
J\lY  Deae  Sik  : 

Your  letter  was  received  last  mojith.  and 
would  have  had  an  earlier  repty,  but  it  came 
to  hand  in  the  midst  of  building  and  moving. 
My  paper.s  even  yet  have  not  been  arranged 
so  as  to  enable  me  to  give  you  a  satisfactory 
answer,  although  T  have  a  large  mass  of  ma- 
terials, ■  which  would  go  a  great  way  toward 
estabH.shing  gastrotomy  in  the  minds  of  the 
profession  ;  T  mean  those  members  of  the  pro- 
fession who  are  influenced  more  by  facts  and 
truths  in  sui'.gery  than  by  opinions  and  preju- 
dices. 

My  professional  engagements  are  so  press- 
ing at  present  that  I  can  not  pretend  to  ana- 
lyse the  matter  in  my  possession  for  your  use, 
T  'will,  however,  send  you  several  pamphlets, 
among  thera  my  table  of  cases  which  will  give 
.you  all  the  facts  on  record  iip  to  date  of  pub- 
lication. I  may  say,  in  reference  to  the  opera- 
tions occurring  since  the  publication  of  my 
table,  that  the  success  of  the  operation  is  cer- 
tainly not  less  than  there  represented.  -This 
ought  to  make  it  as  justifiable  and  legitimate 
as  any  other  capital  operation  in  the  cata- 
logue   of    surgery.      Indeed,    I    consider    tht 


arguments  employed  against  it  by  the  oppos- 
ers  of  gastrotomy  equally  as  applicable  to 
raany  other  operations  long  since  established. 

l\Iy  owii  cases  now  amount  to  tweuty-three. 
These  may  be  divided  into  two  classes : 

First.  Those  where  death  was  impending, 
and  daily  looked  for;  and. 

Second.     Those  in  a  more  favorable  condi- 

In  the  first  class  were  ten  cases,  and  four 
lives  were  saved  by'tlie  operation.  The  death 
of  Lhe  other  six  was  supposed  not  to  have  heen 
hastened  by  it.  while  the  comfort  of  all  the  pa- 
tients was  improved,  and  in  some  of  the  cases 
life  was  thought  to  have  been  prolonged.  In 
none  of  these  could  death  be  attributed  so 
much  to  the  operation  as  to  the  disease. 
Among  the  recoveries,  one  patient  was  sixty 
ujne  years  old,  tumor  twenty-eight  poimds; 
another  was  fifty-six  years  of  age,  tumor  fifty 
pounds ;  another  was  pregnant  and  the  tumor 
WAS  heavier  than  the  patient;  while  the 
fourth  was  bloodless  from  flooding  after  mis- 
carriage, witii  a  small,  thread-like  pulse,  1.30 
per  7jiinute.  These  cases,  I  believe,  were 
snatched  from  the  grave  by  the  operations. 

in  the  second  class  are  thirteen  cases,  nine 
recoveries,  four  deaths,  very  nearly  the  same 
proportion  as  in  Clay's  operations. 

1  congratulate  you  and  Dr.  Dunlap  on  the 
snccess  of  your  operations,  and  would  be 
pleased  to  have  a  report  of  each  ease,  as  well 
as  all  other  information  which  yon  can  furn- 
ish me  on  this  and  similar  subjects. 

Please  accept  a    copy  of    my    prize  essay, 
v.iiich  I  also  forward  to  your  address.    I  have 
operated  on  six  cases  since  its  publication. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

Washington  Atlee. 


Manchester,  England,  Dec.  15,  1856. 
My  Dear  Sie:  ,  J ', 

I  have  just  received  your  kind  note,  dated 
November  2.3,  1856,  and  have  to  thank  you 
for  the  many  kindnesses  therein  expressed. 
When  I  wrote  last  to  you  I  was  busy  prepar- 
ing a  small  volume  entitled  "Hand-Book  of 
C.>bstetrie  Operative  Surgery"  for  the  press, 
intending  to  follow  it  up  by  a  larger  work  on 
ovariotomy,  stating  my  experience  in  full. 
With  great  difficulty  1  found  time  to  complete 
my  Hand-Book,  which  1  hope  by  this  time 
you  have  seen,  in  which  you  will 'find  a  long 
chapter  devoted  to  ovariotomy.  But  1  need 
scarcely  tell  you,  my  increasing  professional 
engagements  interfere  so  seriously  with  my 
time,  that  I  can  scarcely  attend  to  any  thing 
that  T  am  not  really  compelled  to;  otherwise, 
1  have  abundant  material  to  communicate  to 
the  world,  which  I  imagine  would  be  desir- 
able. 

I  am  delighted  to  hear  of  your  great  sue- 


156 


KEXTCf'KY     MEDICAL     .JOVRXAL. 


ci'ss,  far  exeeediiiii:  even  my  own:  indeed,  T  al- 
most envy  yon  and  Di'.  Dnnlap,  and  earnestly 
hope  for  its  continnanee.  ]  have  not  yet  given 
111*  my  intention  of  publishing  my  ovarian 
work.  It  is  only  waiting  time,  not  inclination, 
to  complete.  In  the  meantime,  I  can  only  add 
a  lew  particnlars  to  my  last  statement  of 
cases,  whicii  now  amount  to  seventy-six,  and 
may  be  read  thus: 

Of  first  20.  8  died— 13  recovered; 

Of  second  20,  6  died — 14  recovered; 
Of  the  last  .36.  H  died — 27  recovered. 

]  believe  this  is  the  legitimate  mode  of  view- 
ing the  qnestion,  progressively,  by  which  the 
mortality  is  shown  to  be  gradually  lessened  by 
pi-aotical  experience,  thus: 

First  cases,  1  death  in  21/2 ; 
Second  cases,  1  death  in  S^^ ; 
Last  cases,  1  death  in  4. 

I  should  like  row  to  refer  to  my  new  Haud- 
T)Ook  for  such  practical  hints  as  I  have,  from 
time  to  time,  elicited  by  practice,  and  I  will 
w  rite  to  my  publisher  to  forward  you  a  copy. 

1  am  entirely  of  your  opinion,  that  the 
cas'^s  require  great  care  in  .selecting,  and 
should  not  be  operated  upon  mereh'  because 
Ihey  are  ovarian. 

1  have  little  to  say  as  to  the  want  of  credence 
in  those  who  take  ground  against  the  opera- 
lion.  I  can,  however,  with  pride  and  pleasure 
r.^fer  them  to  many  men  of  the  highest  stand- 
ing in  my  own  country,  amongst  them  Prof. 
Simpson,  Dr.  Bennett  of  Edinburgh,  Dr.  R. 
Ijcf.  Sail'ord  Lee.  and  a  list  of  hundreds  >vho 
have  communicated  with  me  on  the  snb.iect, 
as  to  my  veracity,  not  forgetting  Professors 
Lee.  Z.  Channine-,  with  Dr.  Atlee,  in  your  own 
hind. 

Tlie  opposition  in  England  to  the  operation 
is  i'ast  giving  way,  and  I  trust  it  may  be  said, 
lliat  in  legitimate  cases  there  are  few  surgeons 
here  who  oppose  it.  I  can  not  at  present  do 
moi'e  than  give  you  this  short  resume. 

I  have  some  few  cases  i;nder  my  care  on 
which  I  expect  very  shortly  to  operate,  and  T 
trust  I  shall  be  as  successful  as  I  have  been, 
if  not  more  so. 

With    kind    regards    and    best    wishes    for 
ycr.ir  (oiitiTni'Hl  success,  I  am.  my  dear  sir. 
Yours,  most  sincerely, 
Charles  Clay.  ^I.  D. 

Dr.  J.  Tavlor  Bradford,  Surgeon,  Augusta, 
Ky..  IT.  S. 

I  regret  to  say  that  1  have  not  received  the 
"TIand-Book"  alluded  to  in  the  above  letter 
of  Mr.  Clay. 

Dk'r  Sir: 

In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  24th  ult..  I 
have  to  say  that  I  regard  ovariotomy  as  fairly 
within  the     precincts     of     regular     sui-gery. 


Ohio,  it  should  seem,  holds  a  prominent  rank 
ill  Ihe  operation.  Very  respectfully, 

R.  D.  MussEY. 
Cincinnati,  Jan.  1,  3  857. 


Extract  from  a  letter  to  me  by  Dr.  Black- 
man,  Cincinnati.  Jan.  2,  1857: 

"If  you  see  the  Western  Lancet,  you  are 
]iroliably  already  aware  that  I  regard  ovari- 
otomy as  a  justifiable  operation  in  suitable 
cases.  I  would  not  operate  in  a  case  of  en- 
cephaloid  disease  of  the  ovary;  and  I  would 
not  persevere  in  an  oi^eration  already  com- 
menced, .should  I  find  very  extensive  adhes- 
ions, for  I  have  seen  a  patient  from  the  break- 
ing up  or  rather  dividing  with  the  knife  such 
cidhesions,  die  on  the  talJe.  I  saw  such  a  case 
occur  to  Dr.  .  I  was  one  of  his  assist- 
ants." 

Truly  yours, 
George  C.  Blackman. 

De.  Bradford: 

1  have  received  yours  asking  for  the  results 
of  my  observation  upon  the  operation  for 
ovarian  tumors.  Upon  this  subject  it  is  not 
in  mj'  power  to  say  anything  from  my  own 
experience  in  favor  of  the  operation. 

.Many  eases  in  the  early  stages  of  enlarge- 
ment have  been  under  my  care  ^^-ithin 
medical  treatment  removed  the  enlargement, 
and  restored  the  health  of  the  patients,  while 
others  of  protracted  existence,  of  malignant 
growth,  or  of  complex  organization,  attended 
by  great  enlargement,  have  offered  me  no  evi- 
dence in  favor  of  an  operation.  It  is  proper, 
however,  to  observe  that  in  reference  to  these, 
Uiy  observations  have  been  limited,  as  you  will 
infer  on  being  advised,  that  in  a  practice  of 
five  and  forty  vears,  embodying  every  variety 
of  surgical  practice.  I  have  operated  uj^on  one 
case  only.  The  tumor  appeared  to  occupy  the 
entire  abdominal  cavity,  and  was  organi.'^ed 
throughout.  The  patient  died  on  the  fourth 
or  fifth  day  after  the  operation,  and  possibly 
might  have  recovered  under  the  advantages 
of  good  nursing,  directed  by  professional  skill, 
neither  of  which  were  at  command. 

With  great  regard,  very  truly  yoiu'  friend, 
Ben-jamin  W.  Dudley. 
Dr.  J.  T.  Bradford,  Augusta,  ICy. 

Lexington,  Jan.  4,  1857. 


Louisville.  January  17,  1857. 

]  feel  that  I  owe  you  an  apology  for  so  long 
delaying  to  answer  your  letter  of  the  24th  of 
December  last.  The  fact  is,  that  T  have  been 
I'eluctant  to  write  on  the  subject  to  which 
your  letter  relates,  because  I  have  scarcely 
loi-med  any  very  decided  opinion  on  many 
points  connected  with  it. 

Of  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  ovariot- 


MEDICAL    PIONEERH     OF    KENTJJCKY. 


157 


omy  in  certain  eases,  I  liave  no  doubt;  but  to 
confine  the  eases  witli  pi-ecisiou,  for  tlie  guid- 
ance of  those  wlio  may  be  debating  tlie  matter 
in  tlieir  minds,  and  need  to  be  helped  to  a 
jiroper  decision,  is,  I  apprehend,  a  difficult 
task.  It  is,  I  think,  perfectly  clear  that  no  pa- 
tient with  a  diseased  ovary,  who  does  not  suf- 
fer much  inconvenience  from  her  malady,  and 
is  yet  capable  of  enjoying  life  and  contrib- 
uting to  the  happiness  of  others,  ought  to  be 
advised  to  tJie  risk  of  so  dangerous  an  opera- 
tion. ]3ut,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  operation 
be  deferred  until  life  itself  is  a  burden,  the 
chances  of  its  successful  performance  are 
greatly  diminished,  and  to  decide  exactly  how 
heavily  this  burden  must  press  before  we 
shall  be  justified  in  resorting  to  the  knife,  is 
a  verj''  nice  point,  and  one  the  decision  of 
which  involves,  of  course,  much  responsibility-. 

Probably  future  and  more  extended  experi- 
ence may  clear  up  the  obscurity  tliat  now  per- 
I^lexes  this  view,  and  dissipate  or  at  least  di- 
miiiish  other  difficulties  that  embarrass  the 
wliole  subject.  A\  present,  while  I  entertain 
the  opinion  that  under  certain  circumstances 
the  extirpation  of  diseased  ovaria  is  a  justi- 
fiable operation,  I  should  feel  at  some  loss 
were  I  called  upon  to  decide  the  conditions, 
though  I  might  be  able  to  apprehend  them  in 
practice. 

i\Iy  own  personal  experience  in  ovariotomj^ 
is  very  limited,  being  confined  to  three  cases. 
In  one  of  these,  operated  upon  by  Dr.  Dudley, 
many  years  ago,  the  patient  survived  the  re- 
jnoval  of'the  tumor  only  a  few  days.  The  sec- 
ond occurred  in  the  practice  of  Dr.  Gross,  and 
was  likewise  followed  by  fatal  termination. 
The  third  was  my  own  case,  which  had  a  more 
fortiniate  result,  the  patient  entirely  recover- 
ing. I  say  fortunate,  for  I  do  not  ascribe  the 
issue  to  my  superior  skill,  but  purely  to  luck. 

I  might  have  performed  the  operation  sev- 
eral times  since,  but  I  confess  I  have  not  any 
decided  wish  to  repeat  it.  but  have  rather  been 
disposed  to  evade  it.  or,  as  we  sometimes  say, 
dodge  it. 

Do  not,  I  pray  j^ou,  think  me  a  surgical  pol- 
troon on  account  of  this  confession,  but  at- 
tribute my  hesitation  rather  to  the  want  of 
clear  and  satisfactory  perception  of  the  line 
of  surgical  duty. 

Hoping  that  your  report  ma)'  enlighten  me, 
and  be  alike  creditable  to  vourself  and  the  so- 


cieiy. 


I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  your  friend, 

Henry  ]\Iillek 


New  Orleans,  March  30,  1857. 
My  Dear  Sik  : 

Excuse  me  for  not  replying  to  yours  of  the 
7th  of  P^ebruarj'  sooner,  asking  my  views  on 
the  propriety  of  ovariotomy.  Pressing  busi- 
ness at  the  time  it  was  received  compelled  me 
to  lay  it  by,  and  the  subject  passed  from  my 


mind  until  now.  You  are  perhaps  aware  that 
1  am  the  advocate  of  a  new  method  of  curing 
ovarian  drops3%  which  obviates  the  pain  ana 
dinger  of  ovariotomy  fully  as  much  as  Civi- 
ale's  method  of  removing  stone  from  the 
bladder  obviates  the  pain  and  danger  of  lith- 
otomy. 

But  as  Civiale's  invention  is  not  applicable 
to  all  cases,  neither  is  my  method,  practiced 
with  success  in  one  case,  of  treating  ovarian 
encysted  tumors,  by  reaching  them  through 
the  Fallopian  tubes,  practical  in  all  cases. 
Perhaps  it  is  applicable  in  only  a  very  few. 
\'ou  might  naturally  expect  me  to  be  among 
those  who  are  disposed  to  magnify  the  dan- 
gers attending  excision,  to  attract  the  greater 
jdtention  to  the  discovery  of  a  method  of  cure 
void  of  either  pain  or  danger.  But  I  am  not 
among  them.  I  am  in  favor  of  the  McDowell 
operation  when  it  offers  the  only  chance  of 
saving  the  life  of  the  patient.  I  call  it  the 
McDowell  operation,  bcause  he  was  the  first 
surgeon  to  perform  it  with  success  for  encyst- 
etl  abdominal  tumors,  requiring  for  their  ex- 
lirpatioii  the  whole  abdominal  parietes  to  be 
laid  open  from  the  sternum  to  the  pubis.  The 
tumor  removed  by  Dr.  McDowell,  of  Danville, 
'K.y.,  from  Mrs.  Crawford,  weighed  fifteen 
pounds,  and  the  cure  was  complete  in  about 
ii  month.  The  operation  was  performed  in 
the  year  ISOO,  yet  in  1826,  the  fact  that  such 
an  operation  had  been  performed  with  suc- 
cess by  a  physician  in  an  obscure  village  in 
Kentucky,  was  not  fully  believed  either  in 
?\ew  York  or  London,  although  JMcDowell,  as 
also  the  two  Smiths,  Nathan  and  Alban,  had, 
in  the  meantime,  performed  a  number  of  op- 
erations of  tlie  kind  with  success.  The  Lon- 
don medical  journals  sneeringly  noticed  Mc- 
Dowell's cases,  which  Mv.  Lizars  had  append- 
ed to  his  work  on  ovarian  disease,  published 
in  1825.  .\  New  York  physician  in  a  mono- 
graph on  the  same  subject,  published  in  the 
Medical  Recorder  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  x,  p. 
262-269,  1 826,  noticed  these  sneers  of  the  Lon- 
don editors,  and  expressed  a  "hope,"  italiciz- 
ing the  word,  "to  see  Dr.  McDowell  come  out 
well  in  the  affair,  and  make  good  his  claims." 
— .267.  The  editor  of  the  Medical  Recorder, 
Dr.  Calhoun,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  article, 
as.sured  his  readers  that  there  was  no  doubt  in 
regard  to  the  cases  reported  by  McDowell,  as 
lie  had  been  assui-ed  of  their  truth  b,y  com- 
munications of  the  most  respectable  character 
from  Kentucky.  But  because  some  cockney 
editors  of  London  chose  to  sneer  at  IMcDow- 
ell's  cases  of  svtccessfnl  ovariotomy  fifteen  or 
sixteen  years  after  they  had  been  reported 
and  duly  authenticated,  tlie  New  York  phy- 
sician seemed  to  think  it  was  incumlbent  on 
McDowell  to  make  good  his  claims,  which 
he  had  already  made  good  so  far  back- 
as  ]809,  when  he  cured  Mrs.  Crawford,  by 
an  operation  i-equiring  an  incision  from  stern- 


15S 


KEXTrrKY     MEDICAL     JOVBXAL. 


urn  to  pubis  througli  the  walls  of  the  ab- 
domen. 

So  loug  did  it  take  truth  to  travel  from 
Kentucky  to  New  York,  and  so  strong  were 
London  sneers  against  it  when  it  got  there, 
tliat  ^Irs.  Hunt,  a  patient  of  three  New  York 
Ijhysieiaiis,  was  permitted  to  die  a  miserable 
death  without  getting  the  benetit  of  thai 
ti'uth,  her  physicians  looking  on  and  gi\'ing 
their  assent  for  her  to  suffer  and  die  without 
s.irgieal  aid,  with  a  disease  wluch  ^IcDowel! 
had  proved  to  be  a  remediable  ailment  by  his 
success  with  Mrs.  Crawford  and  others.  The 
London  editor's  sneers  were  too  strong  for 
the  Kentucky  editor's  facts  with  the  New 
"iork  physicians,  and  they  let  her  die  without 
attemptuig  ovariotomy  to  save  her.  On  exam- 
ination after  death,  they  found  no  adhesions 
of  any  consequence,  and  ""  posteriorly, "  to 
use  their  own  words,  '"the  attachments  easUy 
Nielded  to  tlie  fingers,  and  we  rolled  out  a 
huge  mass  almost  without  the  aid  of  the 
knife."  "Its  attachment  to  the  body  was 
by  two  pedicles,  not  larger  than  a  finger,  on 
the  original  sight  of  the  ovar-ium."  See 
Medical  Recorder,  vol.  x,  p.  265. 

At  a  later  period  in  the  year  1828,  Dr. 
I'oreman,  of  New  Jersey,  reported  a  case,  in 
the  Mf.dicnl  Receirder,  voL  xiv.  pp  ,"^66  and 
o77,  of  ovarian  dropsy,  which  he  tapped  a 
niunber  of  times,  diawing  ofi',  at  different 
tijiies,  upwards  of  twenty  gallons  of  dark  col- 
ored, viscid  humor,  and  which,  after  five 
months  suffering,  terminated  fatally.  On  ex- 
a.minatiou  after  death,  '"the  position  of  the 
tumor  in  the  abdomen  was  foimd  to  be  an- 
t.'rior  to  all  the  viscera,  and  its  adhesions  to 
them  was  so  slight  as  to  require  the  scissors 
in  one  place  only  to  free  it,  when  it  rolled  out 
a  huge  fluctuating  mass  upon  the  table."  p. 

in  reporting  the  case.  Dr.  Foreman,  seeing 
how  slight  tile  adhesions  were,  very  correctly 
concludes,  ''that  in  encysted  dropsies,  unless 
the  containing  sack  can  be  entirely  removed 
from  the  body,  or  destroyed  by  suppuration, 
there  is  very  little  ground  to  hope  that  the\ 
ever  can  be  cured  by  art.  Therefore,  when  the 
ovarium  is  the  seat  of  the  disease,  we  are  war- 
ranted by  the  successful  results  of  the  few 
operations  of  tlie  kind  that  have  been  per- 
formed, in  laying  open  the  cavity  of  the  ab- 
domen and  removing  the  diseased  organ  from 
it  at  once.  If  this  coui-se  had  been  pursued 
toward  my  patient  she  might  at  this  time  have 
been  living.  These  organs  have  been  remov- 
ed sufficiently  often,  without  dangerous  symp- 
toms intervening,  to  fully  justify  the  opera- 
tion in  al)  cases  where  the  general  health  of 
the  patient  is  good,  and  the  diagnosis  clear. 
The  appallins  exposure  of  the  viscera  in  this 
operation,  should.  T  admit,  deter  from  its  per- 
formance, wfre  death  not  inevitably  ninety- 
nine  times  in  a  hundred  without  it."     "Un- 


fortunately the  dread  of  attempting  to  do 
good  for  fear  that  evil  may  grow  out  of  it, 
paralyzes  the  hands  of  surgeons,  and  satisfies 
them  to  sanction  inevitable  death  rather  than 
incur  the  possible  dangers  of  a  timely  opera- 
lion.  The  time,  however,  has  come  when  these 
desradiug  apprehensions  are  giving  wav. " 
etc.,  p.  36i. 

I  could  not  express  my  views  on  this  inter- 
esting subject  moi-e  clearly  than  Dr.  Fore- 
man has  expi-essed  them  for  me  in  the  above 
quotation,  an.l  T  beg  you  to  receive  the  same 
as  my  answer  to  the  important  question,  in 
r'.'gard  to  the  propriety  of  the  operation  of 
ovariotomy,  that  you  propounded  to  me. 
Those  who  are  disposed  to  blame  the  New 
^'oj-k  physicians  for  letting  the  sneers  of  Lon- 
don editors  paralyze  their  hands,  so  far  as  to 
sanction  the  ine\-itable  death  of  Mrs,  Hunt, 
rather  than  give  her  a  chance  for  her  life  by 
resorting  to  ovariotomy  in  her  case,  should 
not  hold  the  physicians  of  the  present  day 
lilameless.  who  condemn  the  operation  mider 
all  circumstances,  for  no  better  reason  tliau 
that  some  flippant  Earopean  writers  and  lee 
turers  have  condeumed  it  without  making 
themselves  acquainted  with  the  facts  contrib- 
uted by  American  surgeons. 

Fifteen  or  twenty  years  after  ovariotomy 
had  been  successfully  performed  in  a  number 
of  cases  in  Kentucky  and  other  parts  of  the 
I'nited  States,  doubt  and  suspicion  were  east 
upon  them  by  European  ^^Titers,  and  now,  af- 
ter the  facts  called  in  question  have  been 
proved  beyond  ca-sil  or  dispute,  they  are 
very  much  inclined  to  ignore  them  entirely, 
and  to  treat  the  subject  as  if  no  such  opera- 
tion h.ad  ever  been  successfully  performed  in 
America,  Thus  Watson,  in  his  fourth  lecture, 
speaking  of  ovariotomy,  says :  ' '  The  results 
of  experience  have  been  so  discouraging,  as 
well  nigli,  in  most  minds,  to  prohibit  such 
attempts  in  future."  Watson  had  evidently 
not  infoniied  himself  in  regard  to  the  facts, 
or  designedly  ignored  Dr.  McDowell's  and 
other  American  surgeons  successfid  opera- 
tions. It  does  not  follow  that  because  the  op- 
eration lias  been  unsuccessful  among  the  pau- 
per and  laz.-'aroni  classes  in  the  European 
hospitals,  that  well  fed  Americans,  surroiuid- 
ed  with  all  the  comforts  of  life  and  who  stand 
o})erations  much  better  than  European  hos- 
pital patients,  should  be  deprived  of  the 
chance  it  gives  them  for  their  lives.  Both  in 
surgery  and  in  th?  practice  of  medicine,  it 
is  high  time  for  America  to  set  up  for  herself, 
and  to  be  governed  by  her  own  experience 
and  observation,  and  not  by  the  experience 
and  observation  of  Europe,  drawn  mostly 
from  hospital  practice.  It  is  true  that  the  op- 
er.alion  of  ovariotomy  would  be  apt  to  kill  a 
half  starved  pauper  in  a  crowded  European 
hospital,  and  so  would  a  hasty  plate  of  soup, 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY. 


159 


a  full  meal;  a  dose  of  calomel  and  jalap;  or  a 
free  blood-letting. 

In  the  Boston  Medical  Journal,  vol.  v,  p. 
o7S,  380,  Dr.  Thos.  Fereday,  of  Dudley,  re- 
])orted  a  ease  of  ovarian  tumor,  spontaneous- 
ly subsiding  by  a  discharge  of  fluid  from  the 
vagina,  estimated  at  from  two  to  three  gal- 
lons, in  one  night.  In  this  instance  the  water 
no  doubt  made  its  way  through  the  Fallopian 
tube  into  the  uterus,  and  passed  out  of  that 
organ  through  the  vagina. 

A  similar  ease  is  reported  in  the  Traiisi/l- 
viuvia  Jnwniul  of  1829,  vol.  ii,  p.  97,  98.  The 
patient  had  taken  a  dose  of  senna,  and  report- 
ed 1o  the  attending  physician  that  it  had  not 
oul}^  operated  on  the  bowels,  but  that  she 
"had  urinated,  during  the  night  to  an  amount 
lliat  not  only  astonished  but  alarmed  her." 
The  next  moi-ning  the  ovarian  tumor,  a  very 
large  one,  had  entirely  disappeared.  It  had 
evidently  broken  into  the  uterus,  through  the 
P'allopian  tube,  and  passing  out,  per  vias  nat- 
vrales,  was  mistaken  for  urine.  The  Fallo- 
pian, canal,  when  enlarged  by  hydroma  or 
oiher  causes,  affords  an  open  way  to  the  cav- 
ities of  the  serous  membranes,  through  which 
fluids,  extravasated  in  the  abdomen,  may  find 
their  way  out.  It  would  also  give  a  ready 
outlet  to  the  water  contained  in  ovarian  cysts. 
Cysts  are  lined  with  a  distinct  secreting  mem- 
brane, sometimes  single,  but  generally  com- 
Ijosed  of  smaller  cysts  oontained  \dtliin  a  par- 
ent, attached  by  narrow  pedicles,  and  com- 
municating between  themselves.  AVlien  e.ysts 
are  opened  from  without,  no  matter  how 
.small  they  may  be.  a  dangerous  inflammation 
is  sure  to  follow,  which  nothing  can  cure  but 
an  entire  destruction  of  the  secreting  surface 
by  suppuration  or  by  total  excision. 

Tlenee  no  eases  of  ovarian  dropsy,  which 
Jiave  been  treated  liy  puncture  from  without, 
Jiave  recovered,  so  far  as  my  observation  ex- 
tends. T  have  seen  the  operation  tried  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances,  and  always 
\vithout  success. 

Mo  inflammation  followed  in  the  case-  in 
\\hich  I  drew  off  a  large  quantity  of  gelatin- 
ous fluid  by  probing  the  Fallopian  tube.  The 
^voman  entirely  recovered,  and  has  since  had 
a  number  of  children. 

The  other  two  cases  above  mentioned, 
where  the  ovarian  tumor  spontaneously  dis- 
appeared in  one  night  under  the  excessive  dis- 
charge of  water  from  the  natural  passages, 
also  entirely  recovered.  This  new  operation 
of  reaching  the  cyst  through  the  Fallopian 
duets,  is  decidedly  preferable  to  any  other  in 
eases  which  will  admit  of  the  fluid  being 
reached  in  that  manner.  The  operation  is  nei- 
ther difficult  nor  painful,  when  the  tube  is 
sufficiently  open  to  admit  a  small  sized  probe. 

In  a  lady  who  was  subject  to  a  profuse  dis- 
charge occasionally  from  the  vagina,  suppos- 
ed to  be  leuccrrhea,  T  have  several  times  pass- 


ed a  smaU  sized  catheter  into  the  Fallopian 
tube.  After  gaining  the  cavity  of  the  uterus, 
the  catheter  was  passed  very  readily  and 
without  pain  to  so  great  a  distance  as  to  de- 
monstrate, beyond  a  doubt,  that  it  was  far  up 
in  the  P"'allopian  tube.  It  was  only  during 
the  period  of  those  aqueous  discharges  that  I 
succeeded  in  passing  it  with  faeility  to  a  dis- 
tance that  proved  it  to  have  passed  beyond 
the  cavity  of  the  uterus.  I  am  aware  that 
ovarian  tumors,  besides  the  aqueous,  semi- 
gelatinous,  melicerous,  and  atheromatous 
matter,  contain,  in  many  instances,  hair, 
teeth,  fleshy  substances  and  bones.  Evacu- 
ating the  liquid  contents  through  the  Fallo- 
pian tubes,  it  is  very  probable  would  cause  the 
more  solid,  scirrhous,  or  sarcomatous  materi- 
al?, to  liquify,  and  to  escape  in  the  same  waj'. 
In  the  case  that  I  reported,  a  mass  of  hard 
matter,  as  large  as  the  fist  could  be  felt  in 
the  ovarian  region,  which  continued  for  a 
year  or  more  before  it  finally  disappeared. 
"When  I  first  operated  she  was  fully  as  large 
us  a  pregnant  woman  at  her  full  time. 

Ovarian  pathology  mocks  at  all  the  learn- 
ing of  the  schools.  Who  can  account  for  a 
rlcns  sapicntia  in  the  ovarium?  Yet  Dr. 
Archer,  of  Maryland,  found  a  tooth  of  that 
character  in  the  ovarium  of  a  patient  of  his. 
See  Medical  Repository,  vol.  xii.  p.  365.  New 
\'ork.  1859. 

A  great  many  other  cases  are  recorded  in 
v;irious  works  on  good  authority,  not  only  of 
hair,  bones,  and  teeth  being  found  in  the 
ovaria,  but,  in  some  instances,  of  teeth  set  in 
an  alveolar  process,  and  in  one  case  of  bones 
in  the  ovarium  of  a  child  ten  years  old. 

Too  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  facts  de- 
rived from  American  fields  of  experience,  and 
too  much  importance  is  attached  to  the 
dogmas  and  opinions  of  book-makers  and 
teachers  in  the  large  cities  of  Europe.  They 
are  mostly  opposed  to  ovariotomy,  because  of 
the  ill  success  which  has  attended  it  in  Eu- 
rope, and  are  slow  to  believe  that  inexperi- 
enced counti'y  physicians,  in  the  backwoods 
of  America,  have  been  more  successful  than 
their  m.ost  experienced  and  dexterous  sur- 
geo}is  of  their  large  hospitals.  The  error  lies 
in  their  not  taking  into  consideration  the  vast 
difference  between  the  unfortunate  people  of 
Europe,  living  in  an  abnormal  condition, 
scarcely  one  in  a  thousand  occupying  the  po- 
sition in  society  that  nature  intended  him  or 
her  to  fill — the  sickly,  infirm,  and  half-fam- 
ished masses  being  compelled  to  overtask 
themselves  to  pamper  to  the  luxuries  of  a 
few,  whom  luxury  is  enervating;  and  the 
more  fortunate  American  people,  living  in  a 
normal  condition,  all  classes  of  society,  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  negroes,  occupying 
tb.e  position  that  nature  intended  for  them, 
each  having  as  nuich  liberty  as  comports  with 
the  happiness,  morality,  prosperity,  and  com- 


3  60 


KEXTrCKV     MEDICAL    JOIRXAL. 


fort  of  tlie  whole.  Until  clue  allowance  is 
ii'ade  foi-  tlie  difference  of  circumstances  be- 
Ivreen  tlie  people  of  despotic  Europe  and 
tliose  of  rlie  model  Kepuhlie  of  the  New  "World, 
the  writers  and  teachers  iu  London  and  Paris 
will  find  difficulty  in  believing;  that  a  physici- 
an in  the  little  town  of  Augusta,  in  far  distant 
Kentuckv,  Dr.  Bradford,  liad  been  engaged  in 
seven  suocessive  operations  for  ovarian  drop- 
sy, all  proving  siiccessful,  when  their  most 
sueeesful  surgeons  have  failed  in  five  cases 
out  of  seveJi. 

I\rany  good  meaning  men,  who  have  tried 
to  probe  the  Fallopian  tubes,  both  in  the  dead 
sui).ject  and  the  living,  without  success,  would 
sooner  believe  that  I  had  made  a  mistake  and 
got  no  farther  than  tlie  cavity  of  the  uterus, 
than  concede  that  a  surgical  operation  had 
been  perfoi-med.  which  Prof.  Jackson  and 
otliers  of  less  note  have  regarded  as  imprac- 
ticable, forgetting  that  the  practicabilitv  or 
impracticability  of  the  operation  depends  up- 
on the  circumstances  of  the  case  and  not  upon 
any  remarkable  skill  of  the  operator — forget- 
ting, also,  that  disease  can  work  such  changes 
iu  the  Fallopian  tubes  as  to  give  sufficient  ca- 
pacity to  admit  the  hand,  much  less  a  probe. 
^Vlien  the  medical  men  of  Europe  take  a  les- 
son in  politics  and  learn  the  impoi'tant  truth, 
A^hat  a  normal  government,  bv  diffusing  the 
blessings  and  comforts  of  life  among  all 
classes  of  society,  can  do  in  enabling  the  citi- 
zens thereof  to  bear  surg-ical  operations,  that 
nine  out  of  ten  of  the  half-stai'^'ed.  over-vrork- 
ed  subjects  of  abnormal  governments  would 
die  under,  they  will  be  prepared  to  give  due 
weight  to  the  facts  that  American  operators 
have  contrilmted  to  surgery,  and  not  before. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  .servant, 

Saii'l  a.   C.AJ^TWRIGHT,  31.  D. 

Dr.  J.  Tavlor  Bradford.  Augusta,  Kv. 


I  have  other  letters  of  much  interest  in  fa- 
A'or  of  the  operation,  the  authors  of  which  are 
unwilling  that  they  should  go  to  the  society  in 
their  present  shape.  Tliey  are  mostly,  how- 
ever, confirmatory  of  the  propriety  of  the  op- 
eration, not  statistical. 

It  is  a  singular  fact,  tliat  iu  this  country 
the  operation  of  ovariotomv  belonsrs  almost 
exebisively  to  "Young  America."  So.  too,  in 
Eiigland  an.d  France,  few  of  the  older  sur- 
greons  are  found  operating,  but  rather  seem  to 
have  reversed  that  luctrv  ma.\im  which  Dean 
Swift  practiced  and  taught.  "That  because 
he  had  spent  a  part  of  his  life  in  leaving  un- 
done the  things  which  he  might  have  done,  he 
would  not  throw  away  the  remainder  in  de- 
spair." 

No  one  thing,  perhaps,  has  done  more  to 
j)re.iudice  the  older  surseous  aeaiust  the  od- 
eration  than  tlie  blunders  aiid  errors  of  'Sir. 
Lizars.  And  where  errors  aud  injudicious 
operations  are  committed  by  great  men.  v^e 


are  too  apt  to  regard  the  thing,  as  in  itself, 
hopeless  under  tlie  same  or  similar  circum- 
stances. Is  it  not  a  fact,  then,  with  the  dimin- 
ishing fatality  of  the  operation,  that  many, 
very  many,  of  the  elder  surgeou-s,  without  due 
investigation  and  reflection  that  the  ovary  is 
n^^ither  essential  to  the  life  or  the  health  of 
the  patient,  declined  to  operate  or  counte- 
luuiee  the  legitimacy  of  the  operation,  because 
men  ecpially  or  more  renowned  than  they  had 
failed,  not.  perhaps,  from  the  manner  in 
which  the  operation  was  performed,  but 
selection  of  cases,  from  the  undeveloped 
means  of  a  pi'oper  diagnosis. 

No  one  skilled  in  the  selection  of  cases 
would  have  taken  more  than  one  out  of  the 
four  eases  operated  on  by  ^Iv.  Lizars:  and 
their  failure,  because  of  his  high  position,  for 
a  time,  rendered  the  operation  palsied  in  all 
Europe. 

You  will  observe  iu  the  letter  of  our  dis- 
tinguished countr;\unan.  Prof.  ^lott.  of  New 
York,  addressed  to  me  in  1854,  and  I  hope  it 
will  not  be  considered  uneourteous  in  alluding 
to  it  by  way  of  ilhistration.  that  his  prejudice 
to  the  operation  is  the  result  of  tlip  loss  of 
two  cases  of  his  own.  aud  of  four  which  came 
under  his  obser\'atiou.  "In  no  one  of  these 
cftses. "  says  he.  "was  the  tumor  over  fifteen 
pounds,"  whilst  in  his  own  cases  one  weighed 
six  pounds,  aud  the  other  ten. 

Now  let  lis  examine  for  a  moment  these 
cases.  It  is  a  well  settled  principle  that  rare- 
ly, if  ever,  in  tlie  early  .stages  of  ovarian  tu- 
mor, is  the  constitution  or  the  general  health 
much  disturbed.  Why  operate,  then,  where 
the  tumor  had  only  attained  to  six  or  ten 
pounds?  The  danger  is  greater,  whilst  the 
necessity  of  the  operation  is  less. 

My  reading  and  study  of  the  eases  of  the 
most  successful  operators,  as  well  as  my  own 
experience,  have  taught  me  that  there  are 
two  extremes  in  the  time  at  which  we  should 
0];>erate,  both  of  which  should  be  avoided. 
The  one  is  where  the  tumor  is  small:  the  other 
where  the  operation  lias  been  delayed-  so  lojig 
that  the  size  of  the  tumor  and  the  decline  of 
the  general  health-  render  it  hazardoiis  to 
operate.  In  the  first  place,  I  hold  that  in  pro- 
portion to  the  increased  size  of  the  tumor,  all 
other  things  being  equal,  -will  its  pressure 
iipon  the  adipose  substance  about  the  parietes 
of  the  abdomen  produce  its  absorption,  and 
tlie  friction  of  the  tumor  against  the  peri- 
loneum  accustom  it  to  that  usage  which  ren- 
ders it  less  sensitive :  and  less  liable  to  take 
on  inflammation. 

The  same  principle  holds  good  in  preg- 
nancy— in  the  earlier  stages  of  it.  before  the 
vomb  has  filled  the  abdomen,  abortion,  mis 
carrias''^.  or  I'rematnre  labor,  accidentally  or 
superinduced,  is  laio\\-u  to  be  more  dangerous 
that  at  the  fidl  period  of  utero  gestation. 

1  have  now  been  engaged,  directly  or  indi- 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF     KENTUCKY. 


161 


rectly,  in  nine  operatioio^,  all  but  one  of  which 
have  been  suceessfnl,  and  yet  the  smallest  tu- 
mor weig-hed  twenty-four  pounds,  the  largest 
sixty.  There  is,  then,  in  this  operation,  as  in 
most  other  things,  a  "happy  medium,"  which, 
if  arrived  nt,  will  insure  the  greatest  degree  of 
success. 

I  might  cite  an  instance  in  tlie  West  similar 
to  that  of  Prof.  i^Fott,  where  the  failure  and 
errors  of  leading  surgeons  hover  yet,  like  an 
incubus,  over  the  operation,  but  it  might 
seem  like  the  child  reproving  the  parent  from 
whom  he  had  received  valued  lessons  too  sac- 
red to  be  cancelled. 

There  are  other  operations  which  have  been 
much  more  fatal  than  ovariotomj',  yet  thejr 
are  regarded  as  legitimate. 

When  the  ligature  was  tied  around  the  ia 
i:ominata  the  ninth  time,  with  a  fatal  effect  in 
-  every  case.  Dupuytren  attempted  it  the  tenth 
time  with  the  same  result.  And  after  it  had 
been  performed  the  thirteenth  time,  all  end- 
ing in  death,  the  celebrated  surgeon,  Mr.  Lis- 
ten, whose  dictum  characterized  ovariotomy 
as  "belly  ripping,"  attempted  the  ligature  of 
the  arteria  innominata  with  the  same  fatal  re- 
sult. And  yet  the  same  surgeon,  with  manj' 
others,  legalize  this  operation  up  to  the  six- 
teenth failure,  without  one  case  of  success. 
Yet  ovariotomy,  with  her  increasing  tri- 
urnphs,  is  condemned 

In  Mr.  Merriman's  list  of  twenty-three 
cases  of  Cnes.nrian  operations.  Londov  Lancet, 
vol.  i,  1851.  p.  319,  comprising  all  the  opera 
tions  in  the  British  Tsles,  from  1738  to  1820, 
in  but  one  case  did  the  mother  survive  the  op- 
eration, and  we  find  among  the  operators  the 
names  of  John  Hunter  and  John  Bell. 

Mr.  Radford,  in  a  subsequent  report,  says'. 
"Jj-iit  two  out  of  fifty  cases  of  Csesarian  opera- 
tion, which  occurred  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  have  recovered  from  the  operation." 
And  what  is  strange,  one  of  these  two,  the 
first  case  ever  operated  on  successfully  to  the 
mother,  was  operated  on  with  a  razor  by  an 
Irish  midwife   IMary  Donnelly. 

Mr.  Solly  says  that  death  from  ovariotomy 
up  to  1846  were  only  one  in  31/2-  Dr.  Atlee 
makes  the  mortality  only  261/2  per  cent. ;  Dr. 
Kobert  Lee,  over  37  per  cent. ;  Mr.  Phillips, 
over  39  per  cent. ;  Dr.  Cormack,  over  38  per 
cent.;  Dr.  Ashwall 's  table,  over  36  per  cent.; 
Dr.  Lyman,  in  his  table,  savs  three-fifths  of 
the  operations  are  unsuccessful..  Mr.  Church- 
ill says,  "undoubtedly  the  mortality  is  very 
great,  but  a  mortality  nearly,  if  not  quite  as 
great,  is  not  considered  a  fatal  objection  to 
other  operations."  "If."  says  he,  "we  takf; 
the  major  amputations  of  the  limibs  (primary 
and  secondary,")  it  appears  that  in  Paris,  ac- 
cording to  Malgagne,  the  mortality  is  up- 
wards of  one  in  two;  in  (rlasgow,  it  is  one  i" 
21/2  ;  in  the  British  hospitals  it  is  one  in  31/^." 
As  to  amputation  of  the  thigh,  Mr.  Syme  ob- 


serves, "the  stern  evidence  of  hospital  statis- 
tics shows  that  the  average  frequency  of 
deaths  is  not  loss  than  from  sixty  to  seventy 
per  cent. ;  of  987  cases  collected  by  Jlr.  Phil- 
lips, 435  proved  fatal,  or  44  per  cent. 

Mr.  Curling  states,  on  referring  to  a  table 
of  amputations  performed  in  the  hospitals  of 
London  from  1837  to  1843.  "I  find  134  cases 
of  amputation  of  the  thigh  and  leg,  of  which 
55  were  fatal,  giving  a  mortality  of  41  per 
cent."  Of  201  amputaitons  of  the  thigh,  per- 
formed in  Parisian  hospitals,  and  reported  by 
"Malgagna,  126  ended  fatally.  In  the  Edin- 
L'urgh  hospital  21  died  out  '  of  53.  Even  if 
we  take  much  larger  numbei-s  we  find  the  mor- 
tality very  high.  Dr.  Inman  has  collected 
3586  cases  of  amputation  generally,  primary 
and  secondary,  from  accident  or  disease,  and 
the  deaths  are  one  in  3  1-10.  In  4937  cases 
published  by  Mr.  Tennick.  the  mortality  is 
one  in  3  1-15. 

The  result  of  the  amputation  at  the  hip- 
joint  is  still  more  unfavorable,  Mr.  James  Cox- 
has  shown  that,  out  of  84  cases,  26  were  suc- 
cessful, and  58  unsuccessful. 

Again:  take  operations  for  hernia,  Sir  A 
(,'ooper  recoi-ds  36  deaths  in  77  operations, 
and  Dr.  Inman  260  in  545. 

Or.  the  ligature  of  large  arteries,  of  which 
."'Jr.  Phiilins  has  collected  171  cases,  of  which 
57  died:  Dr.  Inman  199  cases,  of  which  66 
died.  Of  40  cases  of  ligature  of  the  sub- 
clavian artery,  18  proved  fatal;  the  ligature 
of  the  innominata  has  been  fatal  in  every  case. 

So  that,  taking  the  mortality  of  Dr.  Lee's 
estimate,  it  is  not  higher  in  ovariotomy  than 
in  that  of  other  operations,  which  are  admit- 
ted to  be  justifiable  notwithstanding. 

I  might,  with  equal  propriety,  refer  you  to 
the  comparative  statistics  of  Prof.  Simpson. 
Dr.  Atlee,  and  Dr.  Buchanan,  together  with 
many  others,  but  I  trust  the  present  are  suf- 
ficient to  convince  you  that  the  operation  is 
not  such  a  monstrous  innovation  on  the  dig- 
nity and  legitimacy  of  surgical  practice  as 
some  are  wont  to  teach. 

OPERATIONS  IN  KENTUCKY. 

The  following  is,  T  believe,  a  complete  col- 
lection of  all  the  cases  which  have  been  oper- 
ated on  in  Kentucky  up  to  the  present  date. 
Some  of  them,  you  will  see,  are  without  any 
detail,  notwithstanding  I  have  addressed  cir- 
culars, as  well  as  private  letters,  to  the  opera- 
tors. Those  of  them  contained  in  Dr.  Lyman's 
report,  I  sh,ill,  for  the  sake  of  convenience, 
copy  as  condensed  by  him,  the  object  being 
merely  to  give  the  leading  characteristics  of 
each  particular  case : 

1.  Bnekner — Mrs.  W. — ^Two  solid  tumors 
felt  throueli  the  abdominal  parietes  ;  the  upnei- 
very  movable;  the  other -wedged  in  the  pelvis, 
and  felt  through  rectum  and  vagina;  opera- 


162 


KESTVCKY     MEDICAL     .IDVEXAL. 


tiou  June,  1848;  incisiou  from  umbilic-us  to 
nithin  an  'iich  of  symphysis;  pedicle  of  the 
upper  tumor  attached  to  the  lower,  ligated. 
and  removed ;  pedicle  of  lower  tumor  origin- 
ating in  the  left  Fallojjian  tube ;  ligature 
around  the  diseased  left  ovary ;  pedicle  of  tu 
uior  ligated  in  four  ecjiial  parts;  no  adhesions; 
died  sixth  day  of  peritonitis. 

2.  Buekner — Aged  thirty-nine ;  several 
children :  operation  January  31st.  1850 ;  in- 
cision eight  inches:  numerous  adhesions;  liga- 
ture around  the  pedicle;  tiimor  of  the  right 
ovary  removed :  ligature  fell  thirtA'-uiutli 
day;  alarming  symptoms,  hut  the  patient 
eventually  recovered. 

3.  Blaclcaian. — Tapped  several  times;  op- 
eration December  22,  1855  ;  adhesioi:s  slight ; 
ovarian  tumor  of  twonty-two  pounds  remov- 
ed ;  no  bad  sjTiiptoras  after:  recovery. 

4.  Bush. — Xet  published  ;  no  report ;  died. 

5.  Bayless. — 31rs.  Dredden.  age  31 ;  opera- 
tion September.  1849:  disease  of  seven  years' 
standing;  tapped  seventeen  times;  incision 
ten  inches:  numerous  adhesions,  particularly 
around  the  tapping  point.  There  was  no  dis- 
tinct pedicle  on  either  .side,  to  guide  the  ap- 
plication of  a  ligature.  It  was  all  a  confused 
mass.  Tumor  multi-locular;  weight  eighteen 
pounds  besides  the  tappings;  ligature  fell  at 
the  end  of  the  eleventh  month ;  recovered. 

6.  Bradford.  .T.  J. — ^Not  published:  no  re- 
port: died. 

7.  Bradford,  J.  Taylor. — ^liss  H..  ^lays- 
licb,  Ky..  single,  ase  21  ;  twelve  years"  gro^rth. 
having  commenced  at  nine  yeai-s  of  age. 
after  scarlatina :  menses  appeared  at  twelve 
and  continued  regular ;  variety  of  treatment : 
health  failing;  operation  June  14.  1853:  in- 
cision eighteen  to  twenty-  inches,  between  en- 
si  form  and  ])ubis:  adhesions  to  omentum: 
cyst  tapped,  extracted,  and  double  ligatures 
passed  through  the  pedicle  left  ovary;  forty- 
one  pounds,  containing,  attached  to  inner 
v.all.  bony  plate,  var\'ing  in  size  from_  a  pin's 
head  to  a  saucer,  with  one  large  piece  of  bone 
embedded  in  the  wall  of  the  sae;  up  to  six- 
teenth dav :  lisature  fell  sixth  week ;_  recover- 
ed. 

S.  Bradford,  J.  Taylor.— ^NEss  M..  Mil- 
ford.  Kv.,  aire  20;  menses  regular;  thirteen 
months '  standing ;  progress  rapid ;  n^ver  tap- 
ped :  operation  Jiuie  4.  1856:  incision  ten 
inches:  tumor  very  vascular:  cyst  originated 
on  broad  ligament  half  inch  from  left  ovary; 
ovaiy  healthy  and  or  normal  si.ze :  ovary  re- 
moved ■svith  cyst ;  no  adhesions ;  tumor  weigh- 
ed twenty-four  pounds,  double  ligature  pass- 
ed through  pedicle:  ligature  fell  fourth  week: 
recovered. 

9.  Craig.— :\rrs.  H..  age  26:  one  child; 
menses  at  15;  at  16  had  suppression  from, 
cold,  and  never  regular  after:  complicated 
with  ascites,  which  disappeared  several  times 
under  treatment ;  operation  April  22,  1854 ; 


tentative  incision  three  inches,  extended  to 
serobiculus:  adhesions  previously  diagno.sti- 
ca ted  ;  tapped  cyst ;  found  contents  too  thick 
to  pass  through  canula :  adhesions  to  oment- 
um and  mesentery;  double  ligature  through 
pedicle :  left  ovary ;  recovered  i?i  seven  weeks : 
solid  parts  eleveTi  and  three  quarter  pounds. 
]  0.  Dunlap. — ^Irs.  B.,  age  37 ;  five  chil- 
dren: one  year's  gi'owth ;  tapped  four  times 
in  last  sis  months;  operation  ^faroh  24,  1853; 
incision  from  umbilicus  to  pubis,  twelve 
inches;  adhesions  slight;  cyst  evacuated:  solid 
portion  size  of  child's  head;  evacuated;  dou- 
ble ligature  to  pedicle:  thirteenth  day  walk 
ed  across  room ;  ligature  fell  in  three  weeks ; 
left  ovarv:  t^drtv-seven  pounds;  recovered. 

11.  Prof.  B.  W.  Dudley.— Not  published; 
no  report :  died. 

1 2.  Dudley,  E.  L. — Not  published  :  no  re- 
port ;  died. 

13.  Dudley.  E.  L. — ^Xot  published;  no  re- 
jiort  from  operator ;  operation  abandoned ; 
pa'iient  recovered, 

X.  B. — Received  report  from  Dr.  Dudley. 
April  7..  too  late  for  report, 

14.  Evans,  A. — Xot  published;  no  report 
ir'om  operator:  patient  died. 

15.  Evans.  A. — Xot  published:  no  i-eport; 
recovered. 

16.  G^ross. — ^liss  D..  age  22 ;  menses  regu- 
laj":  eighteen  mionths'  gi'owth;  tapped  three 
galloiLs  three  weeks  before  operation.  June  1?*, 
1 849 ;  incision  three  inches  above  umbilicus 
to  pubis,  one  foot:  right  ovary;  adherent,  red. 
and  vascular;  ligature  around  the  pedicle. 
v,-hich  was  narro^\-.  and  though  tied  with 
*' great  firmness,"  it  came  ofl:  after  removal  of 
the  tumor;  a  large  artery  was  secured,  and 
another  ligature  applied  around  the  pedicle, 
and  one  of  the  divided  bands  of  adhesions. 
"^^liieh  showed  a  disposition  to  bleed,  was  liga- 
tured also.  The  menses  appeared  for  two 
days,  tlie  thirteenth  day.  and  though  the  case 
looked  promising,  she  died  in  four  weeks  of 
peritonitis:  enelysted  tumor  nine  pounds. 

17.— -^liller, —  Age  37;  four  months' 
growth;  tapped  previous  week:  operation 
April  6,  1848:  inci,sion.  umbilicus  to  pubis: 
adhesions:  two  of  the  cysts  tapped  to  rediice 
the  size :  tmnor  drawn  out.  and  single  liga- 
ture passed  through  pedicle ;  tumor  removed, 
and  remaining  vessels  of  broad  ligament  se- 
cured separatel.v;  weight  nine  pounds  and  a 
Cjuarter:  last  ligature  came  away  thirty -first 
day;  recovered. 

18,  ^re^fillen, — Xot  published;  no  report: 
died. 

X.  B.  Promised  report,  but  did  not  receive 
it. 

10.  ^FcDowell. — ^fi-s.  Crawford:  opei-a 
lion  Dei'ember,  1809;  incision  on  left  side, 
1h)-ee  in;'hes  from  and  parallel  to  rectus:  nine 
inches  long:  ligature  around  pedicle :  tumor 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL'^     OF    KENTUCKY. 


163 


opened,  and  fifteeu  pounds  of  gelatinous  sub- 
stance removed  pedicle  divided  and  sac  ex- 
tirpated :  whole  weight  twenty-two  pounds 
a2id  a  half:  in  five  days,  the  report  says,  she 
was  able  to  make  her  own  bed,  and  in  twenty- 
five  days  she  went  home. 

20.  McDowell. — Negress;  after  three  or 
four  years  of  mercurial  treatment  incision 
-vas  made  as  in  previous  case ;  adhesions  to 
bladder  and  uterus  preventing,  its  removal; 
the  tumor  was  incised  and  gelatinous  matter, 
and  a  quart  of  blood  escaped ;  recovered  from 
the  operation;  in  two  years  the  tumor  was  as 
large  as  ever. 

21.  IfcDowel]. — Incision  in  linea  alba,  an 
inch  below  umbilicus  to  within  an  inch  of 
pubis;  ligature  around  pedicle;  incision  ex 
tended  two  inches  above  umbilicus,  and  a 
'•'scirrhas  ovarium."  M-eighing  six  pounds  re- 
ii.oved.  She  was  well  in  two  'weeks,  with  ex- 
ception of  the  ligature,  which  fell  in  five;  re- 
covered. 

22.  McDowell.- -.'\pril  1,  1837:  incision  as 
in  last  case ;  ligature  slipped,  followed  by  pro- 
fuse hemorrhage ;  vessels  tied  separately ; 
some  of  them  were  cut  through  by  the  liga- 
ture finally  p-issed  a  ligature  around  the  ped- 
iile  again,  ,nnd  stitched  it  down;  recovered 
from  the  operation,  but  was  not  in  good 
health  afterwards. 

23.  3rc,Dov.'ell.— Operation  May  11,  1P29 ; 
]n\n  been  under  the  treatment  for  others  for 
eighteen  months,  with  supposed  ascites;  treat- 
ment continued  awhile ;  she  was  then  tapped,' 
and  thirteen  quai-ts  of  gelatinous  fluid  remov- 
ed ;  in  two  months  tapped  again  ;  and  then 
discovered  th.'='  tnmor;  in  a  few  months  'wa,? 
tapned  Ihe  third  time,  Avhen  the  incision  was 
erdarged  snfficipntly  to  introduce  a  finger,  to 
settle  th'^  diagnosis:  tapped  a  fourth  time, 
shortly  before  the  operation;  length  of  incis- 
ion not  mention^^d  :  tied  the  pedicle,  also  a 
band  of  uterine  adhesions,  and  removed  the 
tumor;  left  ovary;  died  in  three  days  of  peri- 
ionitis. 

21.  ]*.IcDowel]. — Fifty-three  ..years  of  age; 
operation  1 822 ;  incision  six  inches  in  linea 
alba ;  bloody  serum  gushed  out  and  continued 
to  flow  until  the  sa*"  was  emptied;  edges  of 
wound  approximated  by  interrupted  sutures: 
the  adhesions  to  the  peritonenm  being  of  such 
a  character  as  to  induce  an  abandonment  of 
the  operation;  wound  healed 'at  the  end  of 
live  weeks-  patient  lived  twenty  years  after 
the  operation ;  enjoyed  good  health,  Presi- 
dei;.t  Jackson  was  present  at  this  operation, 
and  the  details  were  furnished  Dr  Gross  bv 
Dr.  James  Overton,  who  was  present  at  th« 
operation. 

25.  ^McDowell. — ^Miss  Plasters:  operation 
May  ]2,  1823:  incision  whole-length  of  linea 
alba  ;  finding  the  tumor  so  large  that  it  could 
not  be  removed  entire,  the  sac  was  punctured. 


The  morbid  mass  was  then  lifted  from  its  bed, 
a  jiQ-ature  having  been  previously  cast  around 
its  footstalk,  or  uterine  attachment ;  the  edges 
of  the  wound  were  carefully  closed  in  the 
usual  manner,  and  the  woman  put  to  bed;  for 
fifteen  days  after  the  operation  there  was  a 
bloody,  puti'id  discharge  from  the  wounds, 
supposed  by  Dr.  McDowell  to  be  sloughing  of 
the  oraeniurn.  Patient  entirely  recovered. 
Dr.  Gross  is  mdebted  to  Dr.  W,  C.  Gait,  for 
Liany  years  a  distinguished  practitioner  of 
.Louisville,  for  tlie  details  of  this  case. 

26.  Smith. — Age  30;  two  children;  menses 
regular:  operation  May  24,  1823;  incision, 
umbilicus  to  within  an  inch  of  pubis;  no  ad- 
liesions;  sac  emptied  of  several  pints  of 
■'watery  matter,"  and  with  some  difficulty  ex- 
li'acted;  ligature  around  the  pedicle;  right 
ovary  of  "scirrhus  appearance;"  menses  re- 
turned profusely  in  five  days;  ligature  fell 
twenty-flfth  day;  has  been  well  since,  except 
for  pain  in  loins  and  abdomen  during. men- 
strual periods. 

28.  Smith. — Case  successftd.  (Cooper's 
Surgical  Dictionary.') 

29.  Smith. — Patient  died  of  secondary 
hemorrhage  from  relaxation  of  the  ligature 
some  days  after  operation.  (Cooper's  Surgic- 
al Dictionary.) 

30.  Smitli  '  &  McDowell.— Patient  had 
ascites,  for  ^\hich  she  had  tapped  herself 
iiinety  timics.  Both  considered  the  diagnosi.s 
as  certani.  but,  on  opening  the  abdomen,  no 
ovarian  tumor  was  found ;  a  mass  of  intes- 
tines, only,  conglomerated  by  adhesions.  She 
died. 

..AN..'\LYSIS  OF  KENTUCKY  CASES. 

It  will  be  observed  in  the  details  of  the 
Kentucky  cases,  that  many  of  them  are  in- 
complete in  prominent  points  of  statistical  in- 
terest. In  the  eighth  case  of  Dr.  McDowell, 
five  of  which  were  published  by  himself,  in 
but  one  is  it  stated  whether  the  right  or  left 
ovarj^  was  the  seat  of  disease,  whether  any 
were  fibrous,  etc. 

Others  again  have  failed  to  give  the  dura- 
tion of  the  disease,  whether  married  or  sin 
gle,  whether  they  had  borne  children  or  not. 
age,  etc.  '     !    ' 

In  consequence  of  1his  omission  on  the  part 
of  those  who  have  reported  the  cases,  and  the 
failure  of  others  to  report  the  unpublished 
cases  as  solicited  by  me,  it  will  be  impossible 
for  me  to  give  you  anything  like  a  complete 
analysis  of  them.  I  have  stated  the  result  of 
seme  of  the  unpublished  cases  on  reliable  au- 
thoritv,  and  if  in  any  instance,  it  is  incorrect, 
it  will  be  no  less  a  regret  to  me  than  to  the 
operator.  T  will  note  some  of  the  leading 
points  of  interest  so  far  as  (  have  been  able 
to  get  them. 

Oiit  of  thirty  operations  performed  iji  K-^'.> 


164 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


Xxu-ky,  nineteen  recovered  and  eleven  died, 
iiearl.y  two-thirds  being  successful. 

Of  the  thirty  operations  for  the  removal  of 
the  tumor,  it  was  completed  in  twenty-five;  in 
five  it  was  not  completed. 

Of  the  five  cases  in  which  the  tumor  was 
not  removed,  two  recovered  and  three  died. 

In  the  five  cases  where  the  operation  was 
abandoned,  the  cause  of  the  failure  is  report- 
otl  in  but  two,  one  from  adhesions  to  the  blad- 
der and  litems,  and  one  from  peritoneal  ad- 
hesions. 

In  one  ease,  No.  30,  no  tumor  was  found: 
'■'a  mass  of  intestines  conglomerated  by  ad- 
hesions," accompanied  \>y  ascites. 

In  one  case,  No.  30,  the  patient  tapped  her- 
self ninety  times. 

In  but  four  eases  is  the  cause  of  death 
given :  three  were  from  peritonitis,  and  ou'^ 
from  hemorrhage. 

In  twelve  cases,  so  far  as  stated,  there  were 
adhesions,  or  one  in  ever^^  two  and  a  half. 

In  but  two  cases  was  the  short  incision  prac- 
ticed. 

In  one  case,  No.  8,  the  cyst  formed  on  the 
broad  ligament,  and  not  in  the  ovai'v,  weighed 
twenty-four  pounds. 

In  one  case,  No.  9.  accompanied  by  ascites. 

In  case  No.  5.  the  ligature  did  not  faU  un- 
til the  eleventh  month. 

No.  5,  disease  of  seven  years'  standing. 

No.  7.  disease  of  twelve  vears'  standing. 

No.  7.  disease  commenced  three  years  before 
the  menstraal  discharge  occurred. 

No.  7,  contained  a  large  piece  of  bone  em- 
bedded in  the  sac  with  numerous  particles  of 
bony  excrescences  on  the  anterior  superior 
part  of  the  sac. 

No.  7,  the  disease  commenced  at  nine  years 
of  age. 

It  seems  in  the  three  hundred  eases  report- 
ed by  Dr  Lyman,  that  this  case  of  mine.  No 
8;)  of  his  table  and  No.  7  of  Kentucln^  cases, 
was  the  eai-liost  ppriod  at  '\\hich  the  disease 
commenced:  and,  on  i^age  127  of  his  report. 
liC  'i.lludes  to  it  doubtingly.  and  says,  if  the 
"account  may  be  relied  on."  I  have  no  idea 
Tlia+  Dr.  Lvman  made  this  allusion  with  any 
uiK-harit-able  intention,  and  I  have  no  rebuke 
to  offer,  further  than  to  reassert  its  correct- 
ness, and  that  the  family  physician.  Dr.  B. 
r.  Duke,  of  ■^fnyslick,  Ky..  and  the  mother  of 
ihe  younsr  lady  will  bear  te.stimonv  to  the  fact. 
But  further:  two  yeare  ago  I  saw  a  Httle  girl 
in  Utopia.  0.,  four  years  old.  ^^■hose  abdomen 
■was  wonderfully  distended.  She  walked 
about,  but  tottered  as  she  went.  She  complain- 
ed but  littl"^,  except  from  over-exertion  or  the 
ivfiuence  of  cold  when  there  would  be  some 
tenderness  or  soreness  of  the  bowels.  The  gen- 
c-v.-d  health  was  good,  and  in  strana-e  contrast 
with  tb.e  enormity  and  extent  of  the  disease. 
for  T  believe  then  the  contents  of  the  abdo- 


men ^^•ould  have  weighed  twenty  pounds.  On 
exam-ination  of  the  tumor,  I  found  it  filling 
vp  every  part  of  the  abdomen,  fluctuation  was 
distinct,  percussion  was  dull  at  every  point, 
e.K^tept  on  the  opposite  side  to  which  she  was 
l.ving,  neai-  the  spine. 

1  learueil  fi-om  the  mother  that  one  year  be- 
fore, she  obser%^ed  a  swelling  as  large  as  a 
goose-egg  in  ihe  right  groin.  She  complained 
lacire  Ihcn  than  sinC(V  continued  to  enlarge, 
iriclining  for  some  months  to  the  right  .side, 
until  one  day,  in  her  ovm  language,  the 
■'swelling  was  all  over  her  bowels."  To  me 
it  was  a  clear  case  of  ovar'an  tumor.  I  have 
never  met  with  one  of  which  I  was  surer.  I 
advised  tapping  and  intended  to  follow  it 
\-.ith  iodine  in.jections.  bandage  of  "Mr.  Brown, 
etc. :  but,  for  a  time,  tlie  family  postponed  it. 
In  the  meantime  they  removed  to  Cincinnati, 
since  which  time,  with  all  my  curious  interest 
in  the  case.  I  have  not  been  able  to  hear  one 
word. 

In  the  Nf'}r  Yorl;  Jotinial  of  Medicine, 
1854,  may  be  found  a  case  of  ^Ir,  Cox.  where 
a  "heaHhy  nursing  infant"  died  of  con^iils- 
ions;  the  ovaries  were  found  dropsical. 

Mayor* — a  case  of  a  child  seventeen  days 
old,  when. the  ovaries  were  dropsical. 

Londrin  Lnncet.  vol.  2,  1845.  p.  120  report 
of  Royal  Society'-  of  London,  1805,  Mr.  Charles 
Pedro  reports  a  case  where  the  ovai-ia  were 
found  wanting.  Patient  died  at  twentv-nine 
years  of  age. 

Since  circumstances  noticed  in  preface  in- 
duced mf^  to  change  the  chai'acter  and  ma- 
terial of  this  i-epovt.  T  had  intended  to  report 
the  cases  of  Dr.  Dunlap  aiid  myself  in  detail, 
but  as  this  report  has  already  gone  beyond  my 
c;"deula1  ion,  and  as  three  of  our  operations  are 
noticed  in  the  Kentucky  cases,  and  others  of 
ours  and  my  own,  easuallv  alluded  to  by  way 
or*  illustration  in  the  chapter  on  diagnosis 
and  elsewhere,  it  were  nov  seemiiarly  useless. 

It  might  seem  that  these  cases  were  picked 
or  selected,  as  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  oper- 
ation. This  inay  be  true  to  some  extent.  Let 
us  examine: 

In  one  i\nss  Harrison.  No  7.  of  Ker.tuckv 
cases,  one  of  ITentuelo-'s  most  distinguished 
surgeons  a  name  that  was  "mightier"  than 
".Elam,  -Ihe  chief  of  our  mite."  sent  this  in- 
torestina-  yoimg  lady,  iri  the  bloom  of  youth, 
to  her  friends,  there  to  "shuffle  off  this  mortal 
coil."  as  a  hopeless  case. 

After  the  operation  she  returned  home 
from  .Anofusta  to  her  parents.  Not  long  after 
I  ctiancod  to  meet  her  on  board  a  steamboat 
on  the  Ohio  river.  I  never  shall  forget  that 
bounding  step  and  weeping  face,  which  moved 
•jiy  heart  by  the  testimonies  of  her  gratitude : 
aiid  if  there  he  anything  which  in\ites  the 
love  and  ambition  of  the  generous  heart,  or 


MEDICAL    PIONEEBS     OF     KENTUCKY. 


165 


inspires  an  emotion  wortliy  of  our  glorious 
triumphs  in  scienee,  it  is  that  of  bearing 
"healing  on  our  own  wngs. "  of  giving 
'■'("■.eauty  for  ashes,  the  oil  oP  joy  for  mourn- 
ing, and  the  garment  of  pi-aise  for  the  spirit 
of  heaviness." 

In  anothei-  case.  Mrs.  Lastly,  of  Ports- 
mouth, Ohio,  Br.  Kimball,  of  Lowell,  Massa- 
chusetts, a  surgeon  of  considerable  notoriety, 
opened  the  abdomen,  and  finding  the  adhes- 
ions, as  he  thought,  insuperable,  closed  up  the 
wound,  and  abandoned  the  operation.  Dr. 
Dunlap  and  1,  one  year  after,  examined  the 
case  patiently,  deliberately,  and  carefully, 
and  operated  successfully.  See  page  — .  In 
the  one  of  these  two  cases  the  disease  was  of 
twelve  .years'  standing,  and  the  tumors  weigh- 
ed forty-one  pounds  In  the  other  the  tumor 
weighed  fifty  odd  pounds,  and  reqinred  twelve 
ligatures  to  the  adhesions. 

It  may  save  reflection  hei'e  to  state,  that 
contrary  to  the  positive  agreement  made  by 
Dr.  Duulap  and  myself  wlnlst  in  partnership, 
we  attempted  the  removal  of  an  appai'ently 
justifiable,  if  any  are,  ease  of  fibrous  tumor 
of  the  uterus  in  a  patient  in  Iowa,  not  ovar- 
ion  tumor,  which  proved  unsuccessful.  I  did 
not  see  the  patient  luitil  the  morning  of  the 
operation,  but  through  the  imploring  entreat- 
ies of  the  patient  and  the  attending  physicians, 
as  well  as  some  recent  published  cases  of  the 
siieee.ssful  removal  of  the  uterus.  Dr.  Dunlap 
v."as  prevailed  iipon  to  take  the  ease.  I  am  as 
much  respon.sible  as  he,  and  I  mention  this 
case  because  the  bad  as  well  as  the  good  cases 
in  surgery  should  be  known,  and  to  steel  you 
to  adhere  to  your  opinions  if  well  founded,  in- 
d.'-pendf^nt  of  those  who  are  not  so  responsi- 
ble. 

T  have  but  little  desire  to  indulge  in  idle 
speculation  about  the  propriety  of  the  opera 
tion;  facts  and  figures  are  to  decide  the  ques- 
ticm,  and  if.  'by  a  principle  of  arithmetic,  ad- 
dition, multiplication  and  subtraction  we 
give  to  each  fact  and  figure  its  proper  bear- 
ing, the  answer  will  come  out  right.  The  op- 
posers  of  Ovariotomy  argue  as  though  the 
iiiipro^'ements  in  diagnosis  were  finished,  and 
the  safest  mode  of  operating  had  gained  its 
acme.  When  the  electric  fluid  was  conducted 
iron  the  cloud  by  the  kite  of  Dr.  Franklin, 
it  did  not  stop  there,  or,  but  for  a  time,  and 
iiow  we  find  't  leapinc  from  city  to  city  as  the 
iQedium  of  conversation.  Soon  its  submarine 
cu.rrents  ■\A^11  relate  to  us  the  transactions  in 
all  Europe  an  hour  ago.  The  great  propell- 
ing power,  which  was  first  discovered  escap- 
i;ig  from  the  "mouth  of  a  tea-kettle."  Avas 
first  applied  to  river  steamers,  now  it  "moves 
like  a  thing  of  life"  over  the  Atlantic.  And 
S{>  every  improvement  has  been  gradually  de- 
veloped from  one  .legree  of  perfection  to  an- 
other. 

If   you   will    examine    the    statistics    since 


1850,  but  more  particularly  since  1853,  you 
will  find,  by  comparison  with  previous  opera- 
lions,  that  the  mortality  has  diminished,  and 
why  "I  Simply  by  the  better  developed  state 
0."  the  diairnosis,  and  the  improved  means  of 
operating.  The  operation  in  itself  is  said  bv 
some  to  be  a  simple  one.  I  have  never  view- 
ed, or  found  it  so :  there  are  innumerable  dif- 
ilculties  which  sometimes  arise,  which  not  one 
in  ten  of  the  medical  books,  not  even  Mr. 
Brown,  in  his  late  work  on  the  "Surgical  Dis- 
cjises  of  Women/'  hints  at  It  will  be  found 
by  the  statistical  tables  of  Dr.  Atlee  and  Dr. 
jjyman,  that  about  twenty-five  per  cent,  die 
from  hemorHiage.  How  many  ■^vi-iters  or  op- 
erators can  you  su'tinion.  who  regard  the  eon- 
ditiou  of  the  pedicle  when  the  ligature  is  ap- 
jdied  as  a  matter  of  any  consideration, 
whether  it  shonld  be  upon  the  stretch,  or  how? 
1  have  met  with  but  one  in  my  reading,  Mr. 
Solly,  and  none  in  my  intercourse  who  at  first 
sight  .so  regarded  it.  The  pedicle,  but  more 
particularly  the  ligament  of  the  ovai-y  is  very 
extensible  and  elastic.  If  the  tumor  be  lifted 
out  with  mnch  force,  or  by  any  movement 
which  places  the  pedicle  on  the  stretch,  so 
juuch  so.  that  it  does  not  contract  before  the 
li.gature  is  applied,  that  part  of  it  which  is 
most  extensible  when  it  does  contract,  is  apt 
to  slip  throu.gh  the  ligature,  and  still,  mthout 
close  examination,  look  as  though  all  was 
right.  Once  on  turning  the  stump  of  a  ped- 
icle up  to  see  if  it  was  bleeding,  I  saw  a  part 
of  the  pedicle  contraetiua'  A^dthin  the  ligature. 
I  reflected  much  about  this  circumstance,  and 
not  nntil  T  read  Mr.  Solly's  case,  did  T  fully 
undertsand  it.*  Manv  cases,  I  have  no  doubt 
died  from  this  cau.se.  Prof.  G.  W.  Bayless' 
jMJs.sourl  case,  Mr.  Bi'own's,  and  many  other's, 
struck  me  as  losirrg  their  lives  from  this  cause. 
I  lioped  to  speak  of  some  of  the  leading  feat- 
lu'cs  of  the  operation,  it  is  now  out  of  my 
power. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  to  say  to  the  IMedical 
Association,  that  it  ■will  be  recollected  by  soirre 
of  its  members  that  most  of  my  leisirre  tirrre 
for  two  entire  year's  was  devoted  to  the  col- 
lection and  classification  of  statistics  on 
C>var*iotorav.  But  a  few  weeks  before  the 
meeting  of  the  Convention,  Dr.  Lyman,  of 
I^oston,  published  a  circular  report  embrac- 
ing about  the  same  number  of  cases,  and  as 
Lis  cases  and  mine  were  gathered  frora  the 
same  sources.  I  was  driven  to  the  necessity  in 
the  very  short  time,  to  write  the  present  re- 
port or  fail  to  make  one. 

This  is  all  the  apology  T  have  to  make  for 
1he  report  as  you  find  it.  trusting  that  your 
"generosity  will  forgive 'what  your  good  sense 
may  see  amiss." 

*London  Lance':,  vol.  1846,  p.  442, 


]66 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOVTl\AL. 


DOCTOR  FRANCIS  E.  POLIN. 
By  RoBT.  C.  McChord,  M.  D.  Lebanon. 

As  is  now  geijerally  known  by  the  medical 
profession  of  Kentucky,  the  first  Ca3sarean 
Section  ever  performed  in  this-  State  was  donc- 
in  1852,  near  Sprinj;:field,  by  Dr.  Francis  E. 
T'olin,  of  that  count\'seat  town. 

Dr.  Polin  was  born  at  Spring-field,  Septem- 
lier  8,  1S27,  and  he  died  there  January  2, 
1860.  He  came  of  a  race  of  highly  respectable 
physicians  and  his  literary  and  medical  ad- 
\antasres  were  tl^e  best  that  the  time  afforded. 


^vilh  Dr.  Thomas  J.  ^lontgomery  to  see  Mrs. 
Alary  Brown,  Mdio  resided  in  the  country  near 
Sj)ving-field.  who  had  been  in  labor  forty 
hours,  during  which  time  her  physician  had 
r.iiide  several  unsuccessful  attempts  at  de- 
liscry.  She  was  a  robust,  health.y  woman, 
thirty-seven  years  of  age,  and  the  motlier  of 
si.\  children.  A  hydrocephalic  head  was  pre- 
sontina:,  and  the  child  iieinp;  dead,  it  was  punc- 
tured and  tlie  bones  at  the  base  of  the  skull 
ti'ushed,  but  it  was  found  impossible  to  de- 
liver the  child  on  account  of  its  immense  size. 
As  a  last  resort  it  was  determined  to  do  a 


DOCTOR  FRANCIS  E.  POLIN 
1827—1860 


After  graduating  in  medicine  he  began  prac 
tidng  in  ipartnei'ship  with  his  father.  Dr. 
John  Polin,  at  Springfield. 

Dr.  Polin  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty - 
three,  ])ut  he  had  already  established  an  en- 
viarle  reputation  for  his  individuality  and 
courage  in  professional  work,  in  spite  of  the 
aiicnsation  of  his  rivals  that  he  was  often 
v.fkless.  Tie  was  especially  efficient  and  skill 
fui  in  his  snrgienl  work.  During  the  month 
o"  December,  1852.  when  he  was  only  twenty- 
five  years  old.  he  was  called  in  consultation 


CiBsai-eau  Section,  which  was  done  by  Dr. 
Polin,  assisted  by  Dr.  ^Montgomery,  in  an  hum- 
ble country  home  and  with  surroundings 
whioli  were  far  from  favorable. 

' '  The  abdomen  was  opened  by  a  median  in- 
cision exte!iding  from  a  point  tv.o  inches 
above  the  pubes  to  the  pit  of  the  stomach, 
l-lie  child  was  removed  from  the  womb  by  a 
longitudinal  incision,  and  proved  to  be  a 
n.ojistrosity  weighing  twenty-five  pounds. 
The  incision  in  the  xiterus  was  closed  by 
L I  tried  silver  wire  ^sutures,  recently  brought 


MEDICAL    PIONEERS     OF    KENTUCKY. 


167 


irito  use  by  Dr.  J.  Marion  Sims,  and  the 
cciges  of  the  abdomiiial  wound  brought  to- 
gei.her  by  alternate  interrupted  sutures  o? 
silver  wire  and  flax  thread.  The  woman  was* 
ei!.tirely  well  i)i  about  a  month  and  lived  to 
a  very  advanced  age.  dying  about  15  years 
ago.  She  became  the  mother  of  two  chil- 
dren after  the  operation,  and  suffered  no  in- 
convenience from  the  presence  of  the  silver 
wire,  except  that  during  the  pi-egaancies  she 
Lad  some  uterine  pains. 


—.ever  perhaps  has  there  been  a  more  inter- 
esting or  lovable  man  in  the  medical  histor,\ 
oi"  Kentuckv-  than  Dr.  Imke  Pryor  Blackburn. 
Born  on  a  Woodford  county  farm,  July  16, 
1<S16,  he  studied  medicine  in  Lexington,  Ky., 
at  Tra.nsylvania  University,  graduating  from 
there  in  1834.  He  commenced  to  practice  his 
jirofession  in  that  city,  and  there  married 
Miss  Ella  Guest  Boswell,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Joseph  J^oswell  of  Lexington. 

When  the  cholera  broke  out  in  Versailles, 


DOCTOR  LUKE  P.  BLACKBURN 

1S16--1887 
Yellow  Fever  Expert  and  Hero  and  Governor  of  Kentucky. 


DOCTOR   LUPvE    P.    BLACKBURN. 


Bv  J.  N. 


McCoRM.iCK,  M.  D.,  L.L    D. 
Bowling  Green. 


The  highest  honor  in  the  power  of  tlie  citi- 
zen of  a  state  to  bestow,  coming  unsought  and 
as  a  spontaneous  tribiite  of  affectionate  ap- 
preciation from  the  hearts  of  thousands  ot 
grateful  pei'sons.  the  position  of  Goveruor  of 
a  great  Commonwealth,  was  the  uniciue  dis- 
tinction conferred  upon  Dr.  Ijuke  P.  Black- 
burn by  the  people  of  Kentucky  in  recogni- 
tion of  snlendid  and  heroic  services. 


Ky.,  in  1835  and  some  of  the  resident  phy- 
sicians were  dead  and  others  had  fled  from 
the  town.  Dr.  Blackburn,  alone,  for  days, 
answered  the  call  for  medical  aid.  His  ef- 
forts were  so  successful  and  his  work  so  self- 
sacriflcing  that  when  the  scourge  had  passed 
a\>'ay,  he  was  warmly  pressed  by  the  people 
of  Versailles  to  locate  among  them.  This 
Sjilendid  service  in  the  face  of  danger,  ren- 
dered the  citizens  of  Versailles,  brought  him 
deserved  distinction  at  the  very  beginning  of 
Ids  professional  career.     He  removed  to  Ver- 


16S 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOURNAL. 


aajlles  ai:d  soon  established  au  extensive  aud 
JiiL-rative  praetice. 

"Dr.  Jiiaekbui-n  was  a  large,  haudsome 
liian  with  a  eountimanee  as  open  aud  kindly 
;.s  Sir  Walter  Scott's,"  .said  a  professional 
luan  who  knew  him  intimately  in  talking  of 
Ljm  recently.  "Tender-hearted,  generous, 
fearless,  frank,  indifferent  about  wealth,  whol- 
ly unpretejiding,  with  great  good  sense,  and 
lavge  experience  and  noteworthy  success  in 
his  profession.  He  was  a  man  of  decided  eon- 
vieiions  and  rarely  failed  to  chamijion  them." 

1x1  1846  Dr.  Blackburn  moved  to  Natchez, 
iliss.,  and  soon  acquired  a  large  and  lucra- 
tive practice  and  gained  considerable  distinc- 
tion over  a  great  part  of  the  South.  In  1848 
when  yellow  fever  appeared  in  New  Orleans, 
he  was  Health  Officer  at  Natchez  and  the  city 
ituthorities  directed  him  to  establish  a  quaran- 
tine, which  he  did  effectually',  and  became  so 
iiuerested  in  the  sufferings  of  the  marines  for 
whom  the  Government  did  not  provide,  as 
well  as  h\indreds  of  others,  that  he  built  a 
h.ospital  at  his  own  expense,  in  which  he  again 
established  a  reputation  for  personal  daring, 
professional  skill  and  genuine  philanthropy. 

(xov.  AMiert  Y.  Brown,  member  of  Con- 
gress from  Mississippi,  presented  the  ease  of 
l-'r.  Blackburn  in  Congress  and  stated  that 
the  necessities  of  a  marine  hospital  at  Natchez 
were  so. great,  that  one  of  his  constituents,  at 
his  own  expense  and  risk  had  taken  charge  of 
large  numljcrs  of  the  sufferers.  A  bill  was  at 
once  passed  providing  for  the  erection  of  the 
Natchez  Hospital,  finally  resulting  in  the 
e.itablishment  of  ten  other  .similar  institutions 
over  the  coimtrj'.  Dr.  Blackburn  was  ap- 
].>ointed  by  the  Government  surgeon  of  the 
new  hospital,  and  for  a  number  of  years  held 
that  position  both  in  the  State  and  Marine 
Hospitals  at  Natchez. 

He  early  advanced  the  theory  of  exemption 
from  Asiatic  cholera  by  the  use  of  pure  soft 
water  and  had  long  been  a  believer  in  the 
transmissibility  and  infection  of  yellow  fever, 
and  in  1854  protected  Natchez  from  that  dis- 
ease when  it  prevailed  in  the  surrounding 
countr.v  by  a  rigid  quarantine.  So  well  was 
the  po\^'er  vested  in  him  used,  that  the  fever 
was  kept  completely  out  of  the  county  and 
people  soon  afterwards  presented  him  with 
a  handsome  silver  service  inscribed  "from  the 
jieople  of  .A.llen  County"  as  a  token  of  their 
gratitude  for  his  rigid  and  successful  enforce- 
ment of  the  quarantine  in  1854. 

Tn  1857  Dr.  Blackburn  went  abroad  to 
visit  the  principal  hospitals  of  England,  Scot- 
land, France  and  Germany,  his  wife  having 
died  several  years  previously.  In  Paris  he  met 
iliss  Julia  IM.  Churchill,  of  Douisville,  T\y., 
youngest  daughter  of  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished citizens  of  the  state.  In  November 
of  that  year,  on  their  return  to  America,  Dr. 
Blackburn  and  Miss  Churchill  were  married, 


and  located  in  Nov/  Orleans  where  the  doctor 
resumed  practice  with  his  usual  exceptional 
success  and  popularity.  When  the  war 
broke  out  he  had,  far  in  advance,  espou.sed 
the  cause  of  the  South,  and,  in  fact,  was  one 
of  the  original  secessionists. 

He  was  at  once  attached  as  surgeon,  to  the 
personal  staff  of  Gen.  Sterling  Price  and  the 
Ijegislatnre  of  Mississippi,  put  fifty  thousand 
dollars  in  his  hands  to  be  applied  to  the  bene- 
fit of  the  suffering  soldiers  of  that  State, 
wherever  he  might  find  them. 

Ill  1864  at  the  request  of  the  Governor- 
General  of  Canada,  he  went  to  the  Bermuda 
Islands  to  look  after  the  suffering  citizens  and 
soldiers,  and  on  bis  vray  was  very  flatteringly 
receivecl  by  the  Governor-General  of  New 
Br.inswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  also  by  Sir  Ad- 
miral Hope  of  the  British  Squadron,  and  his 
services  were  afterward  favorably  recognized 
by  the  Queen's  Court  of  Admiralty. 

In  1865  the  yellow  fever  spread  among 
itan.v  families  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Wash- 
ington on  Long  Island,  from  an  infected  ship, 
and  Dr.  Blackburn,  then  being  on  a  visit  in 
New  York,  was  invited  by  the  Mayor  to  give 
ills  aid  to  the  afflicted  district,  which  he  did, 
refusing  all  proffered  compensation  for  his 
services. 

He  went  to  Arkansas  in  1867,  I\Irs.  Black- 
burn owning  a  plantation  there,  and  for  a 
1  period  he  engaged  in  planting,  but  in  1873 
Di'.  aJid  Mrs.  Blackburn  returned  to  Kentue- 
l;y  and  resided  in  Louisville,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

In  1878  yelloav  fever  in  epidemic  form 
again  swept  the  South  and  the  usual  panic 
followed.  Memphis,  Nashville,  St.  Louis,  Cin- 
( innali  and  most  other  cities  in  this  general 
latitude  qu.arantined  against  the  people  fur- 
ther Soutli.  Some  Louisville  physicians  claim- 
ed this  was  a  needless  precaution,  that  yellon 
fever  could  not  exist  so  far  north.  Among 
th.ein  was  Dr.  T.  S.  Bell,  a  learned  leader  of 
jvicdical  thought  in  his  day  in  the  West,  and 
a  man  of  vei-v'  positive  convictions. 

Dr.  Blackburn  took  the  opposite  xiew. 
claimed  that  yellow  fever  had  in  fact  existed 
further  north,  than  Louisville,  had  genera- 
tjons  before  decimated  the  population  of 
Philadelphia,  and  contended  that  it  would 
Irreak  out  in  Louisville  if  there  was  no  quar- 
antine against  it.  The  discussion  waxed  warm. 
The  two  men,  good  friends,  became  almost 
estranged.  Dr.  Bell's  view  seemed  to  appeal 
re  most  of  the  citizens  and  the  city  govern- 
ment, and  the  gates  of  the  eit.v  were  thrown 
wide  open.  The  refugees  from  the  infected 
distrietb'  cam.c  in  large  numbers. 

Weeks  passed  and  there  were  no  new  cases. 
The  citi?ens  of  Louisville  were  greatly  praised 
for  their  courage  and  hiunanity.  A  quarantine 
against  our  southeni  kinspeople,  it  was  said, 
would  be  heartless,     Dr.  Bell  was  the  hero  of 


MEDICAL    PIONEKm     OF    KENTUCKY. 


169 


Ike  hour.     By  general  concert  a  demonstra- 
lion  of  public  confidence  was  planned. 

A  great  concourse  gathered  in  the  old  Ex- 
position Building  at  Fourth  and  Chestnui 
streets,  which  rang  with  cheers  as  Dr.  Bell 
was  escorted  to  the  stage  by  foremost  citizens 
ti;  receive  a  gold  medal  from  the  people.  Dr. 
Blackburn 's  opinion  was  discredited,  but  he 
persisted  that  he  was  right,  claiming  thai 
frost  alone  would  prevent  the  spread  of  the 
disease  in  Louisville. 

Then  cam.e  reports  that  yellow  fever  was  in 
Hickman  and  in  other  points  in  Western 
Kentiiclr\r,  near  the  ^"'Tississippi  and  Ohio, 
where  infected  patients  had  been  brought  up 
the  river.  At  first  the  reports  were  pooh- 
poohed  in  Louisville  and  elsewhere,  but  soon 
liie  truth  could  not  be  deiiied.  Scores  were 
dying  at  Hickman  and  undoubtedly  of  yel- 
low fever. 

Dr.  Blackburn  had  not  waited  for  this  faci 
to  he  accepted  by  the  people  of  Louisville,  nor 
Ic  say  "I  told  you  so,"  to  tliem  and  to  Dr. 
In^Jl.  He  had  advocated  a  rigid  quarantine  to 
wave  the  well,  but  his  heart  was  with  the  suf- 
fering victims.  On  receipt  of  the  first  news 
from  Hickman  he  went  there  and  for  weeks 
exposed  his  life  for  the  welfare  of  the  peo- 
ple nor  did  he  leave  until  frost  came  amd  the 
last  case  had  ended, 

'I'hen  two  gold  medals  were  made.  They  are 
now  amongst  the  valued  relics  of  the  Filson 
(.ijub.  On  one  of  the  medals  is  this  inscript- 
lion  :  "1878.  Testimonial  of  Love  and  Grat- 
ilude  from  Southern  Refugees," 

On  the  other,  this:  "Luke  P,  Blackburn. 
M.  D,,  for  his  devotion  to  the  people  of  Hick- 
man, Ky,,  and  other  southern  cities  during 
the  plague  of  3878";  and  on  the  reverse  side, 
"  iton  tihi  Kolun-,  sed  patriae  et  hiinianitati." 
The  people  of  Kentucky  were  prompt  to 
i-ecognize  the  fine  heart  and  courage  he  had 
shown,  Dr,  Blackburn  was  the  Hero  of  Hick- 
man and  surely  no  title  of  honor  was  ever 
more  fairly  won. 

There  was  an  approacliing  election  for 
governor.  Eminent,  able  and  respected  men, 
familiar  with  political  methods,  aspired  to 
the  office.  Some  suggested  that  the  state's  high- 
es  office  and  honor  should  be  given  to  the 
"Hero  of  Hickman."  Dr.  Blackburn  was 
wholly  unversed  in  politics  and  guileless  as  a 
boy,  but  opposition  was  dro^Mied  by  the  votes 
of'  the  people  and  he  was'  overwhelmingly 
elected  G-overnor  of  Kentucky. 

His  good  sense  and  character  made  him  an 
admiralile  governor.  He  knew  men  and  his 
appointments  were  excellent.  Having  no  "axe 
to  grind"  he  left  adndnistrative  details  to  the 
men  he  appointed  to  fill  the  various  offices, 
and  after  all  these  are  the  two  great  charac- 
teristics of  a  good  chief  executive. 

.Across  the  street  from  the  Governor's  man- 
sion at  Frankfort  was  the  penitentiary  then 


run  much  like  a  bull  pen.  The  old  buildings 
reeking  with  filth,  immorality  and  disease, 
were  outrageously  over-crowded.  Such  con- 
ditions were  then  accepted  as  a  matter  of 
course  for  convicts.  Modern  ideas  of  prison 
reform  had  not  permeated  the  public  mind. 
But  Governor  Blackburn's  great  heart  made 
him  see,  and  his  good  sense  and  unyielding 
courage  enabled  him  to  right  the  cruel  wrong. 
He  asked  the  legislature  for  a  prompt  ap- 
propriation for  extra  quarters  for  the  crowd- 
ed prisoners.  It  delayed.  He  asked  again 
and  the  body  debated  and  delayed.  Legisla- 
tors opposed  spending  money  on  convicts. 
Gov.  .Blackburn  demanded  ciuick  action  and 
was  answered  only  by  debates.  Then  he  de- 
termined to  act  himself.  He  notified  the  Leg- 
islature that  unless  it  forthwith  granted  re- 
lief, he  would  from  day  to  day  pardon  and 
turn  loose  convicts  until  the  whole  number 
left  could  receive  proper  accommodations. 
The  legislature  was  incensed,  and  still  delay- 
ed. 

The  pardons  began;  public  opinion  sup- 
l-orted  the  Governor,  the  Legislature  surren- 
dered. The  extra  buildings  were  ordered  and 
built.  On  one  day,  fourteen  of  the  pardoned 
convicts  were  borne  on  cots  past  the  Gover- 
nor's mansion,  all  of  them  in  the  last  stages 
of  tuberculosis,  and  all  requesting  to  be  al- 
lowed to  be  carried  by  the  house  of  the  chief 
executive  that  they  might  have  the  privilege 
of  thus  paying  their  respects  to  the  Gover- 
nor and  his  Lady. 

Dr.  Blackburn  should  be  known  as  the 
father  of  prison  reform  in  Kentucky.  In  this 
he  was  far  ahead  of  his  time.  Another  pio- 
]ieer  reform  in  the  state  prison  initiated  by 
his  equally  big  hearted  and  covirageous  wife 
a.nd  always  encouraged  by  him,  was  a  Sun- 
<.lay  school  for  the  convicts,  an  institution 
which  has  growni  with  the  years  which  has 
rendered  priceless  benefit  to  many  of  them 
and  valuatile  service  to  the  state. 

After  his  term  of  office  had  ended,  Gover- 
nor Blackburn,  still  seeking  to  further  the 
welfare  of  his  fellowmen,  determined  to  de- 
vote his  remaining  years  to  founding  a  saaia- 
torium  for  the  sick.  It  was  established  and 
or)erating  in  the  suburbs  of  Louisville  when 
death  ended  Viis  really  noble  career  in  Frank- 
fort, September  14,  1887, 

His  excellent  wife  survives  him,  universal- 
ly esteenied  and  beloved. 


70 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL     JOURXAL. 


DOCTOR  PTNCKNEY  THOMPSON. 

By  J.  N.  IMoCoRMACK,  M.  D.,  Bowling  Green.' 

Dr.  Thoinpson,  justly  entitled  to  be  known 
OS  "The  Father  of  the' State  Board  of  Health 
of  Kentucky:"'  and  one  of  that  State's  most 
distintini.shfd  and  honored  physicians,  was 
hoiii  in  Livingston  County,  in  this  State,  ot 
substantial  North  Ca.rolina  parentage,  April 
15.  1828.  and  died  at  his  home  in  Henderson 
April  11,  1807. 


give  his  student  and  assistant  many  hospital 
and  otlier  advantages  of  great  practical  value. 
He  graduated  from  this  Louisville  school  in 
1853,  in  the  same  class  with  Dr.  D.  W.  Yan- 
dtll  and  several  others  who  made  enviable 
j:ames  for  themselves  and  at  once  located  at. 
Henderson  where  for  forty-four  years  he  en 
joyed  a  large  and  lucrative  practice  and  was 
Widely  l-mo'.vn  as  a  highly  influential  citizen 
and  churchman. 

Wliile,  as  was  the  custom  of     that  day,  he 


DOCTOR  PINCKNEY  THOMPSON 

1828--1897 
active   Sanitarian  who  was  largely  instrumental 


creation  of  the  State  Board  of  Health, 
fifteen  years  of  its  existence. 


nd  its  President  for  the  first 


After  the  meagre  advantages  for  a  literary 
ediTcation  afforded  hy  the  common  schools  of 
that  day  the  ambitious  >'Oung  man  spent  two 
years  as  a  student  of  medicine  in  the  office  of 
one  of  the  best  physicians  of  his  native  coun- 
ty, at  the  end  of  wbicli  time  we  find  him  ma- 
triculated as  a  student  in  the  IMedieal  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Louisville  and  a 
pj'ivate  pupil  of  Dr.  T.  G  Richardson,  demon- 
strator of  anatomy  in  lliat  institution,  who  ir> 
ffter  years  attained  to  such  eminence  as  a 
burgeon  in  New  Orleans,  and  w!io  was  able  to 


v.«s  a  general  practitioner.,  and  did  a  number 
of  successful  lithotomies,  and  tracheotomies 
and  similar  operations.  Dr.  Thompson  is  just- 
ly entitled  to  go  down  in  history  as  one  of 
Kentucky's  first  and  most  distinguished  sani- 
tai'ia.us.  He  wrote  and  was  mainly  instru- 
uienta]  in  secui-ing  the  law  creating  the  State 
I'.oai'd  of  Health,  in  the  .spring  of  1878,  was 
yj'pointed  one  of  its  charter  membei's  by  Gov- 
ernor 3TcCreary  and  was  elected  its  first  presi- 
dent, a  position  which  he  filled  "ndth  signal 
ril>ilitv  and  efi^ieiencv  for  sixteen  vears,  cover 


MEDICAL    PIONEEL'S     OF     KENTUCKY 


171 


]i)g  tho  formotive  and  most  trying  i:)eriod  of 
its  Jiisto'-y.  Yellow  fever  was  epidemic  in  the 
Souili  when  the  Board  was  created  and  in 
f'Pite  of  the  exercise  of  all  the  precautions 
then  kn'own  to  sanitarians  reached  Hickman, 
Jiowling  Green  and  I.onisville  the  following 
year,  causing  a  high  rate  of  mortality 
and  great  public  alarm.  When  the  small 
appropriation  made  for  the  Board  was  ex- 
liiiusted,  Dr.  Thompson  generousl.y  jDrovided 
tiie  funds  to  comijat  the  disease,  visiting  Hick- 


DOCTOR  LEINIUEL  C,  PORTER. 

By  J.  N.  JTcCoRMACK,  M.  D.,  Bowling  Green. 

Dr.  Porter  was  born  near  Scottsville,  Allen 
Ojunty,  Kentacky,  Januaiy  7,  1810,  and  died 
fi*-  his  home  in  Bowling  Green  on  January  1, 
uScS7.  He  came  of  excellent  Maryland  and  Vir- 
ginia ancestry  and  as  his  father  was  a  pros- 
perous farmer  and  business  man  he  gave  his 
talented  son  all  of  tha  educational  and  social 
iidvantages  of  his  section  of  the  country  in 


DOCTOR  LEUMEL  C.  PORTER 

1810-1887 
;  of  the  leading  practitioners  and  surgeons  of  Green  Ri' 


iuan  and  other  infected  districts  and  person- 
ally supervising  the  quarantiiie  and  other  re- 
strictive meas'ores. 

jis  part  of  this  work  he  <was  an  active  fac- 
tor in  secnring  the  legislation  creating  the 
Naiional  Board  of  Health,  and  in  orgamizing 
the  Sanitary  Coimcil  of  the  Mississippi  Val- 
ley and  the  American  Public  Health  Asso- 
ciation in  1884  and  until  failing  health  inter- 
fered was  always  one  of  the  leading  spirits 
in  professional  and  church  work  and  public- 
affairs  in  his  community  and  in  the  State. 


ihat  day.  He  began  the  study  of  medicine 
uhen  a  ]nere  youth,  taking  up  his  residence  in 
Lexington,  then  the  great  medical  center  of 
The  West,  in  a  short  time  became  a  private  pu- 
pil and  assistant  of  Dr.  Benjamin  W.  Dudley, 
and  graduated  from  the  Medical  Departmen': 
Ul  Transylvania  in  1833.  He  went  to  Natchez, 
?ilisgissippi.  to  practice  but  in  a  short  time  re- 
turned to  Leyi]]gton  for  a  year  of  post  gradu- 
fice  work,  influenced  largely  in  this  by  his  ad- 
niiratiori  for  the  professional  and  personal  at- 
lainments  of  Dr.  Dudley  and  for  the  scholar- 


172 


KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


.snip  aj;id  philosoijhieai  investigations  aim 
fci;>.;cujat.oii.s  ol  uv.  uiiarles  uaiuvveil,  an  im- 
iM'ctisiou  ol  tnese  iwo  cusimgLusnea  men,  lui- 
j)iJea  I'atiier  tlian  expresscu,  vvaien  i-eiiiciuiea 
wiin  and  was  ai!  luspiraiion  lo  liini  to  tne  end 
oi  liis  days. 

-Nature  iiad  dealt  Idniliy  witli  Dr.  Porter  iu 
cveiy  way.  iie  Had  a  coiumanamg  tace  ana 
Jigure  a.'Jd  ail  oi  tne  native  dignity,  courtii- 
ntS3  and  grace  oi  manner,  and  studious  care 
oi  tiie  person,  wiiicJi  marJietl  tlie  gentleman 
ct  the  oid  school  brom  early  lite  an  omniv- 
ovous  reader  and  close  oDserver  ot  affairs, 
tiiere  was  added  to  his  tund  of  knowledge  an 
unostentatious  teJicity  and  charm  of  express- 
ioii  wliicli  made  iiim  a  center  of  attraction  m 
aiiy  circle.  AVitli  such  a  personality  and  abil- 
ity, and  with  the  usual  oijportunities  Lexing- 
ton Jiad  furnisJied  for  professional  study  and 
observation,  at  the  close  of  wliat  would  now  be 
culled  a  post-graduate  course,  he  chose  Bowl- 
ing Green  as  a  permanent  location  for  prac- 
tice, soon  took  higli  rank  in  his  calimg  and  was 
for  more  than  half  a  century  one  of  tne  lead- 
ing surgeons  and  consultants  of  a  large  part 
oi  the  Ureen  and  Barren  iiiver  country,  and 
the  iciol  of  such  a  following  that  almost  a  tiiird 
oL'  a  century  after  his  death,  his  name,  his 
acLiieveinents  and  charity,  and  his  forceful, 
piquant  saying  are  still  pleasant  memories 
with  a  large  population  who  never  saw  him. 

ijooking  back  over  a  long  experience  with 
and  study  of  him  in  the  sick,  consulting  and 
operating  room,  after  all  the  only  places  for 
ii,  j-eal  test  of  a  practitioner  of  our  art,  and 
taking  into  consideration  the  scantiness  of 
accurate  .scientilie  knowledge  and  absence  of 
tiie  p.iodern  aids  to  diagnosis  which  handicap- 
j)ed  the  physician  of  that  day,  his  insight 
into  his  cases  and  his  resourcefulness  and  suc- 
cess in  meeting  conditions  by  either  medical 
or  surgical  means,  or  hy  watchful  waiting, 
seems  the  more  remarkable  as  the  years  go  by. 
As  a  student,  he  rejected  the  heroic  medica- 
tion of  that  day,  which  reached  its  ma.ximuni 
iu  the  teachings  of  Dr.  John  Esten  Cooke,  one 
(•f  ihe  professors  in  Transylvania,  always  us- 
ing drugs  sparingly,  his  original  and  inquir- 
ing mind  reserving  doubts  of  any  powerful 
rirug  until  its  value  had  been  proven  by  the 
experience  of  many  trained  obsei-vers. 

Practicing  upon  a  poi^ulatiou  essentially 
rural,  and  in  his  earlier  3'ears  very  sparse,  to 
a  degree  he  ^nade  flie  advantages  compensate 
for  the  disadvantages  in  efforts  for  the  solu- 
tion of  problems  more  different  and  often  im- 
possible of  solution  in  cities  or  crowded  com- 
inunities.  As  an  instance  of  his  acute  powers 
of  observation  and  sagacity,  he  demonstrated 
(■a;'jy  in  his  practice  that  smallpox  was  not 
communicable  until  the  lieginning  of  the  pus- 
t.ilar  stage  of  the  eruption,  the  end  of  the 
iifth  daj-,  since  confirmed  by  thousands  of  ob- 
servers, but  even  yet,  although  of  the  utmost 


practical  importance  in  managing  outbreaks  of 
this  disease,  taught  in  few  medical  schools  and 
text-books.  An  earnest  advocate  of  universal 
Aaccination,  on  nccount  of  an  experience,  now- 
confirmed  by  health  officials  everywhere,  that 
a  large  percent  of  bovine  virus  from  the  best 
pi'oduccrs  on  the  market  either  becomes 
v-.liol]y  inert  or  loses  much  of  its  protective 
i-alue  by  subjection  to  a  high  temperature  in 
transit  or  in  storing,  he  used  only  humanized 
virus  obtained  from  the  arms  of  maidens  or 
children  whose  fam.ily  histories  were  person- 
ally known  to  him,  as  the  State  Board  ot 
Health  now  officially  advises  be  done,  e.speci- 
ally  in  countiy  districts  and  toA^-ns  where  the 
virus  cannot  be  kept  on  ice.  He  insisted  that 
\accination  was  practically  universal,  in  the 
youth  at  least,  under  the  humanized  virus 
regime,  that  it  caused  less  local  and  constitu- 
tioxial  disturbance  and  gave  far  greater  pro 
tectJon  than  bovine  virus,  and  that  the  hue 
and  cry  against  it  was  not  only  a  part  of  a 
c.)mraercial  war  led  by  the  large  concerns  pro- 
ducing boYine  virus,  but  that  it  was  largely 
responsible  for  starting  the  anti-vaccination 
craze  'which  had  become  so  well  organized  and 
po^verful  since  bis  day. 

in  addition  to  lithotomies,  herniotomies, 
amputations  and  other  operations  in  which  he 
liad  been  carefullj^  trained,  Dr.  Porter  seems 
to  have  given  evidence  of  the  same  originality 
and  boldness  in  other  fields  of  surgery  as 
Piarked  liis  career  in  the  practice  of  internal 
medicine.  He  did  several  nephrotomies,  nine 
traeheoi  orrdes  for  foreign  bodies  in  the  air- 
passages,  and  performed  the  same  operations 
many  times  for  so-called  croup  and  diph- 
theria. In  this  o])eration,  he  discarded  and 
anathematized  the  trachea  tube,  because  it 
would  be  likely  to  interfere  with  the  escape 
of  the  foreign  bodj'  ivhen  this  did  not  occur 
at  the  time  of  the  incision,  and  for  the  far 
stronger  reason  that  the  tube  Avas  itself  a  for- 
eign body  which  would  greatly  increase  the 
danger  of  pneumonia  and  other  inflammatory 
miseliiefs.  Instead,  he  inserted  two  deep 
sutures  in  each  .side  of  the  incision  some  dis- 
tance from  its  ends,  carefully  avoiding  the 
iivacous  membranes  in  doing  so,  protected  the 
skin  from  pressure  by  small  pads  outside  of 
the  sutures  and  stretched  the  opening  well  by 
tying  the  threads  back  of  the  neck,  the  only 
dressing  used  being  a  damp  silk  handkerchief 
laid  on  the  wound  to  keep  it  moist  and  to  act 
as  an  air-strainer ;  these  sutures  being  used  to 
close  the  incision  when  the  time  came  for  do- 
ing this. 

Anotlier  simple  and  highly  useful  operation 
devised  by  him  in  early  life,  to  which  he  is 
entitled  to  the  claim  of  priority',  so  far  as  the 
writer  can  ascertain,  and  at  my  suggestion 
]-erfected  in  technique  by  Dr.  W.  L.  Rodman, 
of  Philadelphia,  and  reported  to  the  surgical 
section  of  the  American  Jledical  Association 


MEDICAL    PIONEEKS     OF    KENTUCKY. 


173 


gliortly  before  he  was  elected  President  of  that 
liody,  was  one  for  the  evacuation  of  the  blad- 
der in  eases  of  impermeable  stricture  or  other 
ol.istruction  of  the  urethra.  Failing  to  intro- 
duce a  catheter  or  bougie,  in  the  use  of  which 
he  was  an  expert,  he  thrust  an  extra  large  tro- 
car into  the  bladder,  just  above  the  pubis  and 
well  below  the  reflection  of  the  peritoneum 
and,  before  much  of  the  urine  was  allowed  to 
escape,  inserted  a  rather  hard  gum  catheter — 
not  a  iSIelaton — well  into  the  bladder  through 
the  canola,  drained  off  the  balance  of  the 
urine,  removed  the  ivorj'  tip  from  the  distal 
end  of  the  catheter,  withdrew  the  canula, 
stopped  the  opening  in  the  catheter  with  a 
well  fitted  cork,  tucked  the  loose  end  of  it 
uiider  the  loop  of  adhesive  plaster  on  the  bel- 
ly,  and   advised   the  patient   to   remove  the 


stoijper  and  empty  the  bladder  every  six 
hours  until  the  urine  Howed  freely  through 
ihe  urethra,  when  he  was  to  return  for  a 
]u'oper  treatment  of  the  cause  of  his  trouble. 
As  se(?n  through  the  dim  vista  of  the  long 
ago  when  we  were  so  closely  associated  in 
practice  and  friendship,  more  like  grand- 
father and  grandson  than  as  partners,  and  af- 
ter a  long  life  since  in  close  professional  and 
personal  touch  with  leading  medical  men  of 
our  own  and  otlier  countries,  the  writer  is 
convinced  that,  but  for  a  philosophical  indif- 
ference to  what  he  termed  the  bauble  of  a 
posthumous  reputation,  as  a  maii,  as  an  orig- 
inal thinker  .-iud  as  a  physician  and  surgeon, 
i'ew  of  our  forbears  were  better  entitled  to  a 
pLice  among  the  "Medical  Pioneers  of  Ken- 
tucky" than  the  subject  of  this  sketch- 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Doctor   Ephraim   McDowell    FroDtispiece 

Doctor   Ephraim    McDowell.. A    later  picture...    10 

TE.iVEi.ERs   Rest    13 

The   Graves   of  Doctor   and   Mrs.   McDowell.  .    17 

The  First  Ovariotomy    18 

Facsimile    Letter    of   Dr.    McDowell 20-23 

Doctor  .Iohx  D.  Jacksox   3-1 

The    Monument    26 

Doctor  Sa.muel  D.  Gross  27 

Doctor  Richard  O.  Go-m^iNG   42 

Doctor  Lewis  A.  Sa\-re   43 

Cambus  Kenneth,  the  Home  of  McDowell....   46 

The  MoDovteli.  Family  Crest   47 

Transylvania   University   Medical   Hall 50 

Doctor    Samtel    Brown     53 

Doctor  Be.v.t.\mix  W.  Dudley   5G 

"FAIRL.4WX,"   The  Home  of  Dr.  Dudley 60 

The    Dudley    Gr.wes    .' 62 

Doctor    Daniel   Drakh    64 

Doctor  John  Esten  Cooke    67 

Doctor  William  H.  Richardson    70 

Doctor  Cihrles  Wilkins  Short    71 

Doctor  Luxsford  P.  Yandell,   Sr 7."> 

Doctor  -Ja.mes  M.   Bush 76 


pagt. 

The  Home  of  Dr.  Bush,  in  Lexington 77 

Doctor   Robert   Peter    7fl 

Doctor  He.vry  M.   .Skillman 81 

Old  Medical  Dept.  University  of  Louisville..    82 

Doctor  -James  M.  Bodine   83 

Doctor  William   H.  Wathen    86 

Doctor  Lunsford  P.  Yandell,  Sr..  2nd  picture.  .    90 

Doctor    Drake.    2nd   picture 91 

Doctor  -John  Esten   Cooke,  2nd  picture 92 

Doctor   Charles   Caldwell.   2nd  picture 93 

Doctor   Samrel  D.  Gross,  An  earlier  picture....    94 

Doctor   Austin    Flint,    Senior 96 

Doctor    Sajiuel   il    Bemiss    97 

Doctor  Tobias   G.    Richardson    98 

Doctor   Henry   Miller      99 

Doctor  Theodore  S.   Bell 10! 

Doctor   D.wtd   W.    Yandell 103 

Doctor   Willia.m   L.    Sutton 110 

Doctor    Lewis    Rogers    123 

Doctor  Walter  Brashear    138 

Doctor   Joshua  Taylor   Bradford 140 

Doctor  Francis   E.   Polix 166 

Doctor  Luke  P-  Blackburn    167 

Doctor    Pincksev   Thompson 170 

Doctor   Lemuel   C.  .Porter 171 


INDEX 


^^nderson,  W.  W.,  biography  of  Bradford  by,   140. 

Apology  of  linndon  Medico-Chirurgica]  Review  to  Ephraint 
McDowell,    12,    29,    48. 

Bailey,  William,  S4;  picturt-  of,  84;  member  of  faculty  of 
Hospital  College  of  Medicine,  87;  member  of  faculty  of 
University  of  Louisville,  85. 

Bell,  Theodore  S.    biography  of,   100;  picture  of,   101. 

Bemiss,   Samuel  M.,  picture  of,  97. 

Birth   of  the    State   Medical   Society,    110. 

Blackburn,  Luke  P..  biography  of,  167;  picture  of,   167. 

Bodine,  James  M..  83;  picture  of,  83;  member  of  faculty  of 
Kentucky   School  of  Medicine,   86. 

Bradford,  Joshua  Taylor,  tribute  to  by  Gross  for  brilliant 
record  in  reviving  ovariotomy,  32,  38;  biography  of, 
140;  picture  of,   140;   report  on  ovariotomy  by     142. 

Brashear.  Walter,  biography  of  by  Coomes,  132;  picture  of, 
138;   tirst  successful  hip-joint  amputation  done  by,    133. 

Brown.  Samuel,  first  medical  teacher  in  the  second  medical 
college  in  the  United  States,  51;  picture  of,  53;  refer- 
ence to  by  Yandell,    89 

Buchanan,  Joseph,    appointed   in  Transylvania  faculty,    55. 

Bush.  James  M.,  biography  of,  76;  picture  of,  76;  Home  of 
77;   tribute  to  by  Rogers,  132 

Caesarian  Section    first  case  done  in  Kentucky,    166. 

Caldwell,  Charles,  appointed  in  Transylvania  faculty.  54: 
biography  of,    72;   pictures  of,    72,    93. 

Cooke,  John  Esten,  biography  of,  66;  picture  of,  67,  92. 

Ccomes,  M.  F.,  biography  of  Brashear  by,    137. 

Corrpspondence  about  dedication  of  the  McDowell  Monument, 
44. 

Cottell,  Henry  A.,  biography  of  Dr.  Drake  by,  63  ;  biography 
of  Dr.  Cooke  by,  66 ;  biography  of  Dr.  Caldwell  by  72  ; 
biography  of  Dr.  Bell  by,   100. 

Cowling,  R    O.,  presentation  address  of,   41;  picture  of,  41. 

Cra^rford,  Mrs.,  whose  intelligence  and  courage  made  the 
success  of  ovariotomy  possible,  12 ;  tribute  to  by  Mc 
Dowell,  18,  20;  by  Gtoss.  28;  by  Sayre,  44;  by  Mc- 
Murtry,    37,    47. 

Drake,  Daniel,  asr.istant  to  Gross  in  establishing  claims  of 
McDowell  as  the  first  ovariotomist,  27;  appointment  in 
Transylvania  faculty,  13  ;  resigns  53  ;  biography  of,  63  ; 
pictiire  of.  64,  91;  enters  faculty  of  Louisville  Medical 
Institute.   95. 

Duel  between  Dudley   and  Richardson,    59. 

Lnidley,  B.  W.,  appointed  professor  of  anatomy  and  surgery 
in  Transylvania,  52;  biography  of,' 56;  picture  of,  56; 
home  of,  60 ;  grave  of,  62 ;  member  of  faculty  of  Ken 
tucky  School  of  Medicinn,  86;  Duel  with  Richardson,  59. 

Eve,  Paul  F.,  enters  faculty  of  the  University  of  Louisville, 
98;  generously  retires    98. 

Facsimile  of  McDowell  Letters,    25-28. 

Flint,  Austin,  Sr.,  enters  faculty  of  University  of  Louisville, 
96;   picture   of     96. 

Flint,    Joshua   B.,   enters   faculty   of   Louisville  Medical    Insti 

tute,  93. 
Goodman,  H.  M.,  biography  of  Dr.  Miller  by,  99. 


Grcss,  Samuel  D.;  part  in  rescuing  name  and  fame  of  Mc 
Dowell  from  obscurity,  8 ;  his  McDowell  dedicatory  ad- 
dress, 26-41:  accepts  door  knocker  from  the  McDowell 
residence.  41;  tribute  to  by  McMurtry,  49;  pictures  of, 
27,  94;  enters  the  faculty  of  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  University  of  Louisville,  84 ;  assists  in  organizing 
St.ite  Society.  110 :  early  president  of  State  Societv. 
120:   first  to  use  anesthetics   in   Louisville     129. 

Groups    in   this   volume,    T.    The  McDowell    Group,  3-48;    IT. 

The    Transylvania     Group,    50-81;     III.    The  Louisville 

Schools      Group,    82-107;      IV.   The    General  Kentucky 
Group,    108-172. 

Hip-joint  amputation,  first  successfully  done  by  Brashear, 
133. 

Hifr.lory  of  Medicine  in  Kentucky  by  Rogers,   123. 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  letter  of  regret  of,   44. 

Hospital  College  of  Medicine,   87 ;    faculty  of,   87. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  assists  McDowell  in  one  of  his  ovario 
tomie.s,    13,    49. 

Jackson,  John  D.  tribute  to  by  McMurtry,  8,  9 ;  biographical 
sketch  of  McDowell  by,  11;  plea  for  monument  to  Mc 
Dowell  bv,  12-17;  biographical  sketch  of  by  McMurtry, 
24;  picture  of,  24;  his  credit  in  securing  the  monu- 
ment voiced  by  Gross,   87;  tribute  to  by  Rogers,    125. 

Kentucky  School  nf  Medicine,  85  ;  faculty  of,   86. 

Kentucky,    the    General    Group    of,    108-172. 

Kentucky    University,    Medical    Department,    88 ;    faculty    of, 

88. 

Li/ars,  John,  first  to  attempt  an  ovariotomy  in  Europe,  29. 

Louisville  Medical  College,  87;  faculties  of    87. 

Louisville  Medical  Institute,  83,   89,   93;   charter  granted,   94. 

Louisville  Medical   Schools  Group,    82-107. 

McChord,  Robert  C,  biography  of  Dr.   Pollin  by,    166. 

McDowell,  Ephraim,  pictures  of,  1,  10;  foreword  to  group 
of,  8;  Jackson's  biography  of,  11;  marriage  of,  13,  49- 
first  grave  of,  17 ;  paper  on  extirpation  of  diseased 
ovaries  by,  18 ;  fac  simile  of  letter  of,  25 ;  dedicatory 
address  on,  26;  the  monument  to,  26;  centennial  ora- 
tion on,  46;  home  of,  46;  family  crest  of,  47;  the  apoV 
ogj'  to,  12,  29,  48:  liberality  and  high  character  as  a 
citizen,  36;  tribute  to  by  Rogers,   125. 

McCormack,  J.  N.,  general  introduction.  5;  foreword  Mc- 
Dowell group.  8;  foreword  to  general  Kentucky  group, 
108;  biography  of  Dr.  Blackburn,  167;  of  Dr.  Thompson, 
170;  of  Dr.  Porter.  171. 

McDowell  Group,   3-49. 

McMurtry,  Lewis  S.,  asked  to  write  history  of  medicine  in 
Kentucky,  5;  thanks  to.  7;  made  chairman  of  McDowell 
monument  committee  and  his  work  thereon  9 ;  his  bi- 
ography of  Jackson,  24;  success  of  efforts  for  the  mon- 
ument, 26-46:  address  at  the  Centennial  Celebration  of 
McDowell's  tlrst  ovariotomy,  46 ;  foreword  to  Louisville 
Medical  Schorls  Group,   83-89. 

Medical  Department  of  Kentucky  University,  88:  faculty  of, 
38. 

Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Louisville,  82 ; 
chartered,   96 :    picture   of,    82. 

Medical  History  of  Kentucky,  facts  in,  by  Rogers,   123. 

Medical  Literature   of  Kentucky,   by  Yandell,    134. 


I  N  D  E  X— Continued 


Members  of  the  State  Medical  Society  in  1856,    117. 

Miller  Henry,  enters  faculty  of  University  of  Louisville,  99; 
biography  of.   99;   picture  of,   99. 

Officers  of  the  State  Medical  Society  from  1851  to  1017, 
120-2, 

Ovariotomy.     McDowell's    priority  in,     3-49;     history    of    in 

Louisville    by     Yandell,     135 ;  Bradford's    great     report 

on,   142-165;   Lizars  work  in,  144;   Clay  as  an  operator 
in,   145. 

Overton.   -Tames,   elected  in  Transylvania  faculty,   52. 

Parvin,    Theopholis,   letter   of  regret,    45. 

Peter,  Robert,  foreword  to  Transylvania  University  Group 
50:  sketch  of  Dr.  Brown  by,  53;  of  Dr.  Ridgely,  54;  of 
Dr.  Richardson,  69:  of  Dr.  Short.  70;  of  Dr.  Yandell, 
Sr.,  74;  of  Dr.  Bush,  76;  biography  of  by  Col.  Durrett, 
78;  picture  of,   79. 

Polin,   Francis  E.,   biography  of,    166:    picture  of,    166. 

Polk,  James  K.,   operation  upon  by  McDowell  35. 

Porter,  Lemuel  C,  biography  of.   171;   picture  of,    171. 

Presentation  address  by   Cowling,    41. 

Presidents  and  Secretaries  of  the  State  Medical  Society  from 
1S51  to  1917,   120-2. 

Proceedings  of  first  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Medical 
Society,   111;    of  second  annual  meeting,    114. 

Richardson,   Tobias  G.,  picture  of,    98. 

Richardson,  "W.  H.,  appointed  to  chair  of  obstetrics  in  Tran- 
sylvania, 52;  biography  of,  69;  picture  of  70:  tribute 
to  by  Rof<ers,   130;    Duel  with  Dudley,    59. 

Ridgely.  Frederick,  second  medical  teacher  in  the  west,  51; 
biography,   54. 

Roberts,  Mrs.  Maria  Yandell,  biogi-aphy  of  Dr.  Y^andell  by, 
102. 

Rogers,  Coleman,  appointed  adiunet  to  chair  of  surgery  in 
Transylvania,   52. 


Rogers,  Lewis.  Medical  history  of  Kentucky,  123-133;  pic- 
ture of,  123. 

Roster  of  members  of  the  State  Society  in   1S56.  117. 

Sayre,    Lewis   A.,    address  of,   43 ;    picture  of,   43. 

Scott,  John  AV.,  biography  of  Dr.   Skillman  by,   80. 

Secretaries  and  presidents  of  the  State  Medical  Society  from 
1851  to  1917,   120-2. 

Short,  Charles  W..  biography  of,  70;  picrure  of,  71:  retires 
from  faculty  in  Louisville,   95. 

Skillman,  Henry  M.,  biography  of  SO;  picture  of,  81. 

State  Medical  Society  birth  of,  110;  proceedings  of  first  an- 
nual  meeting  of.  Ill;  of  second  annual  meeting,  114 ■, 
first  constitution  and  by-laws  of,  112;  roster  of  mem- 
bers of,  117:  list  of  officers  from  1851  to  1917,  120-2; 
places  and  dates  of  meeting  from  1851-1917,    120-2. 

Sutton,  William  L.,  picture  of,  110;  first  president  of  State 
Society,   UO,  120. 

Thomas,   T.   Gaillard,   letter  of  regret,    45. 

Thompson,  Pinckney,  biography  of,  170;  picture  cf    170. 

Transylvania   University  Group,   50-81;  Medical    tJall   of,   51. 

Transylvania  University  Medical  Hall,   51. 

University  of  Louisville,  Medical  Department,  82 .  chartered, 
96. 

^A'alhen,  William  H.,  picture  of,   85. 

Wells,  Sir  Spencer,  letter  of  regret,  44;  record  of  in  ovari- 
otomy,  30,   32. 

Y^andell,  David  W.,  biography  of,  102:  picture  of,  103;  his 
tory  01  ovariotomy  in  Louisville  by,   105. 

Y'andell,  L.  P.  Sr.,  biography  of,  74;  picture  of,  75,  90; 
introductory  lecture  on  transition  froui  Transylvania 
University  to  Louisville  Medical  Institute,  89-98;  sec- 
ond picture  of,  90;  enters  faculty  of  Louisville  Medical 
Institute,  93;  medical  literature  of  Kentuckj'  by,   134, 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


Smooth-Strong-Stcrile 


Surgical  Catgut 
Ligatures 

5  Feet  in  a  Tulie.  3  Tubes  in  a  Box 

Made  from  selected  gut  and  handled 
through  the  various  processes  in  such  man- 
ner as  to  insure  sterility,  strength  and  sup- 
pleness. 

In  the  manufacture  of  Catgut  Ligatures, 
our  great  advantages  are  used  fully  and 
we  offer  them  with  confidence. 


ARMOUR^COMPANY 

CHICAGO 


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Tn  the  present  uncertain  state  of  the  druo;'  market,  with  the  demand  for  many- 
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drugs  and  chemicals  of  inferior  quality,  many  of  which  are  heing  offered 
at  very  favorable  prices. 

For  the  protection  of  American  Physicians,  crudes  and  chemicals  entering  into 
the  mamifacture  of  P-M  Co.  pharmaceuticals,  are  secured  from  reliable 
sources  only  and  are  subjected,  to  the  eJosest  scrutiny  by  our  chemists. 
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KEXTVCKY     MEDICAL    JOURXAL. 


NEW  SECOND  REVISED  EDITION  JtJSX  F»UBI_JSHED 

Practical  Therapeutics 

Qy  DAJMIEL  M.  HOYX,  M.  D. 

F'ormerly  Instructor  in  Therapeutics,  University  of    F^ennsylveinia;  F^ello-%v  of    College   of 

P*hysicians  and  Surgeons;  Assistant  F^liysician  to  F*HildelpKia  General  Hospital. 

4SO  PA-GES — 20  ORIGINAX^  EINGRA.VINGS — PRICE,  SS.OO 

Second  Edition — Revised — Re-wrritten — Enlarged 

This  volume  will  prove  01  great  value  to  the  practicing  phj'sician.  It  is  different 
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First  — It  shows  by  actual  tracings  just  the  effect  your  drug  will  have  upon  the  circu- 
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Second — It  is  so  arranged  that  at  a  glance  j^ou  can  find  the  drug  you  need  for  a  cer- 
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Third — It  gives  everj'  important  new  and  non-official  remedy  passed  upon  by  the 
council  of  pharmacy  of  the  A.  il.  A. 

Fourth — It  gives  the  composition  of  most  patent  and  proprietor^v  remedies. 

Fifth — It  gives  a  list  of  those  drugs  that  can  be  dispensed  most  readily  by  the  prac- 
ticing physician  who  dispenses  his  own  remedies. 

Sixth — It  is  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  of  ilateria  IMedica,  pharmacology  and 
therapeutics. 

THE  G,  V.  MOSBY  GO.     Medical  Publishers.     St.  Louis. 


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KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOUnNAL. 


EAD'S 
DEXTRI- MALTOSE 

(MALT  SUGAR) 

A  chemically  pure  and  highly  assimilate '«"" 
of  carbuhycli-atc  food,  free  from  acid- 


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+ 

MINIMUM 

DIGESTIVE   DISTURBANCES,    DIARRHOEA 

An   Efficient   Carbohi^drate 

Is   wliv   nearly   all   pediatrists   prescribe   Mead's 
Dextri-Maltose  in   formulae   for 

INFANT  FEEDING 


Let  us  send  j'ou  samples  and  literature  fully  describing 
the  simplicity  of  using  Dextri-Maltose  in  any  milk  mix- 
ture in  the  same  proportion  as  milk  or  cane  sugar,  but 
with  better  results. 

MEAD  JOHNSON  &  CO.,  Evansville,  Ind. 


THE  STORM  BINDER  AND  ABDOMINAL  SUPPORTER 

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Pertussis,  Obesity,  etc. 

Send  for  new  folder  and  testimonials  of  physicians.      General  mall 
orders  filled  at  Philadelphia  only— within  twenty-four  hours 

KATHERINE  L.  STORM,  M.D. 

1541  Diamond  Street,  Pliiladelphia 


Home  Phone  239V 


Cumb.  Phone  Main  1421-A. 

W.  T.  Berry  Surgical  Instrument  Co.,  inc. 

Proprietor.  BROOKS  DENHARD  Residence  Plione  Easit  326-Y 

We  Carrv  Ox-ygen 

MANUFACTURERS  AND  DEALERS 

Trusses,  Abdominal  Supporters,  Elastic  Hosiery,  Apparatus  for  Deformities,  Invalid 

Chairs,  Crutches,  Artificial  Eyes,  Physicians'  Complete  Outfits,  Cabinets, 

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314  Soutln  Third  Street 

A  LADY  ATTENDANT  FOR  LADIES  1_0UISVI1_L,E;,  K.Y. 


KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


Identifies 


u 


■PECOGEITION  of 
Horlick's  Malted 
Milk  has  been  growing 
for  over  a  third  of  a 
century.  It  rests  up- 
on quality  that  com- 
bines Originality,  un- 
forniity  and  dependa- 
bility. 


HORyCKl 


Malted  Milk 


'^reparedbyDissolving  in  WaterOnl/- 
■^OCOOKING  OR  MILK  REOUIBE^ 

fJr\r.         SOLE  MANUFACTURERS 

"^''^'CKS  MALTED  MlL*^C°•• 


"pjOW   Successfully 

Horlick's  has  met 
the  requirements  of 
the  physician  and  the 
needs  of  the  patient  is 
shown  by  the  univers- 
al accord  with  which 
it  is  x:)rescribed. 


To  one  and  all  Horlick's  is  Malted  Milk  and  Malted  Milk  is 
Horlick's.    Sample  and  printed  matter  prepaid  to  the  profession. 


=    Morlick's  IVIalted  IVIilk:  Co. 


3DC 


Racine,  Wis.    = 

1 


JL 


The  Seelbach 

CORNER  FOURTH  and  WALNUT  STREETS 

LOUISVILLE,  KY. 

The  city's  leading  hotel  and  headquarters  for 
the  Kentucky  State  Medical  Association. 


Rates  From  $1.50  to  $5.00. 


3DI 


European  Plan 


KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


USE    VACCINES 

IN  ACCUTE  INFECTIONS 

The  early  administration  of  Sherman's  Bacterial 
Vaccines  will  reduce  the  average  course  of  acute  in- 
fections like  Pneumonia,  Broncho-pneumonia,  Sepsis, 
Erysipelas,  Mastoiditis,  -Rheumatic  Fever,  Colds, 
Bronchitis,  etc.,  to  less  than  one  third  the  usual 
course  of  such  diseases,  with  a  proportionate  reduc- 
tion of  the  mortality  rate. 

Write  for  literature. 


Sherman's  Bacterial  Vaccines  are  pre- 
pared in  our  specially  constructed  Labo- 
ratories, devoted  exclusively  to  tlie 
manufacture  of  these  preparations  and 
are  marked  in  standardized  suspensions. 


Detroit^tck. 


SOUTHERN    OF»TICAL.    C01VIF>ANY 

Incorporated 


IVIANUF'ACXURERS 
SF»E:CXA.CI_ES     and    EYE    GL^^VSSES 

F'ovirtH  and  CHestnut  Louisville,  Kentucky 


BURR  M.  OVERTON,  Pharmacist 

Prescriptions  Filled  Promptly 

DAY  OR  NIGHT  TRY  US 

S.  W.  Cor.  Third  and  Avery,  Louisville,  Ky. 


Special  Attention  to  Out-of-Town  Orders 
MEMBER  OF  THE  FLORISTS  TELEGRAPH    DELIVERY 

AUGUST  R.  BAUMER 

....FLORIST.... 

Masonic  Temple  Fourth  and  Cliestnut 


Both  Phones 


Louisville,  Ky. 


KEXTrCKY     MEDICAL     JOUliXAL. 


....      PHYSICIANS'     DIRECTORY 

D.    Y.    KEITH                                                                                                                                         J.    PAUL    KEITH 

DRS.  KEITH  8z:  KEITH 

A  Modernly  Equipped  X-Ray  Laboratory 

Kadiotherapy,  fluoroscopy  and  radiography.      Latest  improved  Coolidge  tubes  for  the 

treatment  of  malignancy,  leukemias,  lupus  and  all  forms  of  skin  lesions  in 

which  radiotherapy  is  indicated. 

Suite  730  Atherton  Building                                                 Louisville,  Kentucky 

DR.  CURRAN  POPE 
Pope  Sanatorium 

LOUISVTTiTiF,,  KY. 

FOR  SALE ; 

T  am  desirous  of  selling  my  property  in 
Padueah.  'composed  of  residence  and  of- 
ilee,  and  have  an  active  practice.  Will  sell 
for  cost  of  building  and  lot.    Will  he  glad 
to  introduce  to  practice. 

Address;  Dr.  W.  H.  Parsons, 

Padncah,  Kentucky. 

GUINEA  PIGS  FOR  SALE 

Price,  50  Cents  Each 

(F.  0.  B.  Bowling  Green,  Ky.) 

No  order.s  taken  for  less  than  two  pigs 

ADDRESS 

JOE  B.  SLBLETT 
1031  Chestnut  St.     Bowling  Green.  Ky. 

DR.  J.  C.  HOOVER, 

Surgery,     Diseases     op     Women     and 

Consultations. 

Hoover-Foster  Building 

Telephone   67.                   Owensboro,   Ky. 

If  you  have  any  office  eqiii]> 
ment  or  practice  for  sale,  in- 
sert an  advertisement  in  the 

JoURXAL. 

DR.  L.  S.  McMCJRTRY 

SuTTE  542  The  Atherton. 

Cor.  Fourth  and  Chestnut  Sts. 

Louisville,  Ky. 

Telephone,  Main  1700.      Hours,  11  to  1. 

POSITION  WANTED 

Position  as  Dietitian  in  a  modern  hospital  wanted  by  a  young  woman, 
who  is  a  a  college  graduate  and  has  had  hospital  and  teaching  ex- 
perience in  Dietetics.     Excellent  references.     Address,  "A.  T.  R..  Ken- 
tucky Medical  Journal.  Bowling  Green,  Ky. 

KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOUBNAL. 


F»HYSICIANS'    DIRECTORY 

DR.  W.  HAMILTON  LONG, 
Weissinger-Gaulbert, 

ANESTHESIA    AND    ANALGESIA,    SURGICAL 
OBSTETRICAL    AND    DENTAL 

Telephones:  City  6463;  South  2980. 
Louisville,  Kentucky. 

DR.  J.  GARLAND  SHERRILL, 

542  Atherton  Building, 

Hours:  11  to  1. 

Louisville,  Kentucky. 

DRS.  AUD  &  McKENNA, 

SURGERY 

Suite  500,  Atherton  Bldg., 
Louisville,   Kentucky-. 

Both  'Phones  1300, 

Hours  11  to  1,  and  by  Appointment. 

DR.  JOHN  D.  TRAWICK 
820  Starks  Building, 
Louisville,  Kentucky, 

SURGERY   OF    CHILDHOOD 

Hours:  1]  to  1.                   Phone,  Main  27. 

H.  A.  DAVIDSON,  B.  S.,  M.  D., 
820  Starks  Bldg.      Louisville,  Kentucky. 
Special  Attention  to  Obstetrics  and  Gyne- 
cologic Surgery. 

Hours :  10  to  11  A.  M.,  and  4  to  5  P.  M. 

Consultation   by   appointment   only. 
DR.  C.  W.  DOWDEN, 

— DIAGNOSIS 

400   Atherton  Bldg.           Louisville,  Ky. 

Office,  526  Fourth  Ave.      Hours:  11  to  1. 

DR.  JOHN  R.  WATHEN, 
Practice  Limited  to  General,  Abdominal 

and  Gynecological  Surgery. 
Telephones — : 

Office:  Main  842;  City  690. 
Res. :  South  1660 ;  City  3971. 

If  you  have    any    office    equipment  or 
practice  for  sale,  insert  an  advertisement 
in  the  Journal. 

JOSEPH  A.    SWEENY,  M.  D., 

The  Atherton 

Practice  Limited  to  Diseases  of  the 
Digestive  System. 

Hours:  9  to  1  By  Appointment. 

DR.  CHARLES  FARMER, 
Suite  308  Masonic  Building, 
Louisville,  Ky. 
Cumberland  Phone,  Main   242 

Home  Phone,  City  880. 
Hours:    2  to  3. 

DR.  JETHRA  HANCOCK, 

PRACTICE  LIMITED  TO  GENITO-URINARY 
DISEASES  AND  SYPHILIS. 

N.  E.  Cor.  Second  and  Chestnut  Sts. 
Hours  1  to  4  P.  M.               Louisville,  Ky. 

KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


F»HYSICIAIMS' 

DIRECTORY 

DR.  GRANVILLE  S.  HANES.            \ 

INTESTINAL  AND  RECTAL  DISEASES,                 | 

iEasonic  Building,              Louisville,  Ky. 

DR.  BERNARD  ASMAN, 

Atherton  Building,  Fourth  and 

Chestnut,    Sts.,   Louisville,   Ky. 

12 :30  to  2,  and  by  Appointment. 

DR.  GEORGE  A.  HENDON, 

PRACTICE   LIMITED    TO    SURGERY | 

600  Atlierton  Building, 

Both  'Phones:  Highland  475;  Bast  475. 

Hours  11-12  M. 

DR.  A.  DAVID  WILLMOTH, 

SURGERY    AND   DISEASES    OF   WOMEN. 

Suite  403-405  Masonic  Bldg.,  Fourth 
Ave.,  &  Chestnut  St.,  LouisviUe,  Ky. 
Hours:  2-5  and  by  Appointment. 

Both  'Phones  Office  and  Residence. 

DR.  CLAUDE  G.  HOFPJLAJ^, 

Atherton  Building.              Both  'Phones. 

PRACTICE     LIMITED     TO    UROLOGY, 

Hours :  10  to  1  and  5  to  6 
Sundays;  10  to  1  and  by  Appointment. 

DR.  GUY  P.  GRIGSBY, 

Suite   612-14-16   The   Atherton, 

Cor.  Fourth  and  Chestnut  Sts., 

LouisviUe,  Kentucky. 

Both  'Phones,  ]\Liin  2100 ;  City  773. 

Hours :  11  to  1  and  by  Appointment. 

DR.  EMMET  F.  HORINE, 

ANESTHESIA  AND  DLAGNOSIS 

1036  Bardstown  Rd.,          Louisville,  Ey. 

Both  'Phones.    Hours :  4 :30  to  6 :30  P.  M. 
and  by  Appointment. 

DR.  BARNETT  OWEN, 

ORTHOPEDIC  SURGERY 

Office:  400   Atherton  Building. 

Hours:   11-1   and  by  Appointment. 

Telephones,  Cumb..  Main  2604;  Home 
City  2604, 

Louisville,  Kentrucky. 

DR.  LEE  KAHN, 

PRACTICE     LIMITED    TO     GENERAL     AND 
ABDOMINAL  SURGERY. 

Atherton  Bldg.                    Louisville,  Ky. 

Both  Phones,  Office  and  Residence. — 
DR.  ISL  CASPER, 

SURGERY   AND   GYNECOLOGY 

Starks  Bldg.       Louisville.   Ky. 
Hours :  1  to  2  and  by  Appointment. 

DR.  CHARLES  G.  LUCAS, 

700  Atherton  Building, 

LouisviUe,  Kentucky. 

Hours:  9  to  1. 

Afternoons  and  Sundays  b^'  Ap- 
pointment. 

DR.  WALTER  DEAN  LEVI, 

PRACTICE   LIMITED   TO   DISEASES    AND    SURG- 
ERY  OF   THE  EYE,   EAR,  NOSE   AND   THROAT. 

Starks  Bldg.,  Fourth  and  Walnut  Sts., 
LouisviUe,  Kentucky. 

DR.  EDWARD  SPEIDEL, 

OBSTETRICS 

710  Atherton  Bldg.            Louisville,  Ky. 

KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


■you  cannot  foresee  the 
^  future,  but  you  can 

provide  against  its  possibilities. 

You  will  be  happier  for  the  knowledge 
that  in  case  of  disability  or  accidental 
death  you  have  made  certain  provision 
for  yourself  and  dependents. 

Physicians'  Casualty  Assn. 

of  OMAHA,  NEBRASKA 

OFFICERS:— D.  C.  BRYANT,  M.D..  Pres..  D.  A.  FOOTE, 
M.D..  Vice-P.es.,  E.  E.  ELLIOTT.  Sec'y-Treas. 

A  mutual  accident  association  for  physicians 
only.  Fourteen  5-ears  of  successful  operation. 
Over  8500,000  paid  for  claims. 

$5,000  for  accidental  death;  $25.00  weekly  in- 
demnity. Cost  has  never  exceeded  $13.00  per 
year  per  member. 

NATIONAL  IN  SCOPE.  Membership  fee  of  $3.00 
covers  current  quarter.  Standard  policies  coutain- 
ins;  entire  contract  —  no  reference  to  by-laws. 

The  Physicians'  Health  Association  pays  in- 
demnities for  disability  due  to  illness  instead 
of  accidents.  An  important  protective  in- 
surance  for   physicians.     Send   for   circular, 

E.  E.  ELLIOTT,  Sec,  304  City  Nat'l  Bank  Bldg.,  Omaha,  Neb. 


Uncontrollable  Hiccup  Arrested  by  the  Ocu- 
locardiac Reflex. — The  young  man  was  com- 
pleteh'  exhausted  by  the  inc-ess'ant  hiccup  which 
liad  tormented  him  for  over  twenty-four  hours, 
liromids  gave  no  relief  and  a  dose  of  morphin 
only,  a  brief  respite.  A  sedlitz  powder  caused 
jtiiieh  discomfort  but  did  not  arrest  the  spasms 
of  the  diaphragm  as  hoped.  Flexing  the  thighs 
on  the  abdomen  to  force  up  the  viscera,  massag'e, 
and  rliythi.Tsic  traction  of  the  tongue  also  proved 
futile.  But  the  hiccup  stopped  at  once  when  the 
eyeballs  were  compressed  as  for  the  oculocardi- 
ac reflex.  The  radial  pulse  grew  slow,  the  hic- 
cup stopped,  and  the  exhausted  man  dropped  to 
sleep  at  once.  A  return  of  t!ie  hiccup  next  day 
was  aborted  by  the  same  procedure.  It  also 
proved  effectual  in  a  case  of  hiccup  from  pitru- 
lent  pleurisy. 


Campaign  Diarrhea. — When  entire  regiments 
are  taken  with  diarrhea  for  a  few  days,  without 
special  characteristics,  Hanns  thinks  that  the 
food  is  to  be  incriminated.  The  exercise  and  out- 
of-door  life  keep  the  men  hungry  and  they  over- 
eat. Then  some  chilling  at  night  proves  the  last 
straw.  The  reason  why  the  diarrhea  develops  in 
epidemic  form  is  because  theopportunities  for 
overeating  occtir  to  all  alike,  ripening-  of  fruit, 
etc.  There  were  never  any  complications  in  the 
hundreds  of  cases  he  has  encountered. 


Persisting  Fistulas  with  Osteomyelitis  from 
War  Wounds. — Dujarier  and  Despardins  advo- 
cate a  special  center  to  which  these  intetrainable 
fistula  cases  can  be  sent  for  specialist  treatment. 
Their  success  with  such  cases  has  practically 
realized  a  center  of  the  kind,  as  they  report  80 
per  cent,  cured  by  their  operative  measures  in 
sixty-nine  cases.  The  interval  between  the  war 
wound  and  their  intervention  was  from  ten  to 
1  wenty-one  months  in  most  of  the  cases  and  in 
none  was  less  than  four  months.  The  cure  after 
their  intervention  was  complete  in  from  three 
weeks  to  six  months,  averaging  from  two  to  four 
months.  In  the  few  cases  of  failure  some  cause 
was  discovered  later  in  nearly  every  instance,  a 
scrap  of  cloth,  a  sequester  or  an  overlooked  focus 
of  osteitis. 

The  abstract  department  of  this  Journal  de 
('rirurgie  fills  eighty-eight  pages,  and  illustra- 
tions accompany  many  of  the  summaries.  The 
indexing  of  .articles  interesting  the  surgeon  in 
international  literature  fills  an  additional  thirty- 
six  pages. 


Mercury  Oxycyanid  in  Abortive  Treatment  of 
G-ouorrhea. — Colombino  has  discarded  silver 
nitrate  in  abortive  treatment  of  gonorrhea  as  it 
is  irritating  to  the  urethral  mitcosa.  Potassium 
permanganate  also  is  of  little  use,  he  thinks,  in 
tlie  early  stages,  although  valuable  in  the  second 
or  (bird  week.  Mercury  oxycyanid,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  effectual  and  nonirritating,  as  he  has 
demonstrated  in  over  100  cases.  He  irrigates  the 
urethra  with  a  tepid  one  per  thousand  solution 
the  first  day,  then  repeats  the  rinsing  with  a  0.5 
per  cen.  solution  morning  and  evening  thereafter 
for  two  days,  then  once  a  day.  The  cure  is  usu- 
ally complete  in  nine  or  ten  days:  the  gonococei 
generally  disappear  by  the  third  day.  This 
laethod  is  indicated  especially  when  the  gonococei 
are  restricted  to  the  anterior  urethra  and  not 
more  than  48  hours  have  elapsed  since  the 
patient  noted  the  first  symptoms.  Repose  is  good 
but  not  indispensable  with  this  drug,  but  excite- 
ment, stimuLants  and  heavy  work  should  be 
avoided. 


Absorption  of  the  Roots  of  the  First  Teeth.— 

In  examining  large  numlbers  of  "milk  teeth," 
I.uciani  noticed  that  the  normal  absorption  of 
the  roots  occttrred  completely  only  when  the  pnlp 
of  the  tooth  was  in  normal  condition.  The 
physiologic  integrity  of  the  tooth  is  indispens- 
.Tblc;  he  declares,  in  preparation  for  the  normal 
pi'ocoss  of  second  dentition.  All  his  evidence 
proclaims  the  importance  of  preserving  the  vital- 
ity of  the  pitlp  of  the  first  teeth  until  they  are 
ready  to  drop  off  from  absorption  of  their  roots. 


KEXTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOURXAL. 


rji 

k  1-    r  XV     - 

*^*«"« 

Phone  536 


Dr.    Weirick's    Sanitarium 

Formerly  Dr  Broughton's  Sanitarium 
ESTABLISHED    ISOl 

For  Opium,  Morphine,  Cocaine  and  Other  Drag  Addictions, 

Including  Alcohol  and  Special  Nervous  Cases 

Methods  easy,  regular,  humane.  Good  heat,  light 
water,  help,  board,  etc.  Number  limited  to  44.  A  well 
kept  home.  Nervous-Mental  Department  in  charge  of  Dr. 
W.  L.  Ransom.    Address 

DR.  G.  A.  WEJRICK:,  Superintendent 

2007  S.  Main  St.  Rockford,  111. 


•5- 

J 

* 

^ 

•fc      ^3i9^BlB&^lHtt 

OCONOnOWOC  HEALTH  RESORT  t 

OCONOMOWOC,  WISCONSIN                      f 

^ --' '  '-'^H^^H^^^^B 

Three    hours    from  Chicago    on  C.  Mil.  &  St.  Paul  Railway     J 

^^^^r^3^^mK^^^^^EisKi  liH 

BUILT  AND  EQUIPPED  FOR  TREATMENT  OF               | 

• 

HP^4HHHil^^SS 

NERVOUS  DISEASES              J 

New    and  Especially  Equipped  Psychopathic   Department     •{• 

f 

B^-                      ^SbM 

For  Acute  Mental  Cases                                   T 

f 

L 

ABSOlDiay  HREPROOF 

ARTHUR  W.  ROGERS,  B.S.,  M.D.,  Resident  Physician  in  Charge      ? 

THE   CINCINNATI    SANITARIUM 

FOR    MENTAL   A.ND    NERVOUS  DISEASES 

Incorporated  1873 


F.  W.  LANGDON.  M.D.,  Medical  Director. 
EMERSON  A.  NORTH.  M.D..  Resident  Physician. 


A  strictly  modern  hospital  fully  equipped 
for  the  scientific  treatment  of  all  nervous  and 
mental  affections.  Situation  retired  and  accessible. 
For  details  write  for  descriptive  pamphlet. 

B.  A.  WILLIAMS.  M.D.,  Resident  Physician 
H.  P.  COLLINS.  Business  Manager. 
Bo:ac  4,  College  Hill,  Cincixmati,  Ohio 


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^  Telephone  &  Telegraph  Company.  The  physician  needs  it.      It  places  jou    ^ 

■#  in  direct  communication  with  every  important  city  and  town  in  the    ♦ 

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NEW  YORK  POLYCLINIC 
MEDICAL  SCHOOL  AND  HOSPITAL 

S^l-SSl  West  SOtH  St.,  New  York  City 

General,  Separate  Clinical  and  Special  Courses  of  Individual  Post- 
Graduate  Instruction 

given  throughout  the  year,  beginning  at  any  time,  and  for  any  period  of  time. 
Laboratory,  Cadaver  and  Operative  Courses 

in  all  branches.     Instruction  planned  to  meet  individual  requirements. 

Courses  of  Practical  Work 

under  tutelage,  for  periods  of  three  months,  six  months,  one  year,  for  specialists. 
Individual  Instruction  in  the  following  branches  : 
Major  and  Minor  Surgery  Rectal  Diseases 

Hernia  (local  anesthesia)  Anesthesia 

Cystoscopy  (male  and  female)  Phvsiral  Diatfnosis 

Urethroscopy  and  Endoscopy  Physical  Diagnosis 

Neurology  and  Neurological  Surgery  Infant  Feeding  and  Diagnosis 

(brain,  spinal  cord,  peripheral  nerves)  Tuberculosis  (pulmonary,  glandular,  bone) 

Dermatology  (skin  pathology)  Drug  Addictions  and  Toxemias 

Gynecology   (operative  ;  non-operative)  Diseases  of  Stomach  (dietetics) 

Eye,  Including  Refraction,  Ear,  Nose,  Throat  X-Ray  and  Electro-Therapeutics 

State  particular  information  desired  when  writing. 

Address  inquiries  to  JOHN  A.  WYETH,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  the  Faculty 

or  MR.  JAMES  U.  NORRIS,  Superintendent. 


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KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOURNAL. 


YOU  CAN  SAVE  YOUR  LINEN 

By  letting  us  do  your  laundry  work.  We  have  been  in  business  so 
long  that  we  know  just  how  to  avoid  the  many  troubles  which  you 
have  probably  met  with  in  sending  work  to  laundries. 


^  ■    i^COftPOSATce, 


H9  135   S. THIRD    STFIKE7 


OotH  Phones  1068 


l-iouisvllle,  Ky. 


Elm  wood  Sanitarium 


Dr.  Nevitt's 
Sanitarium 


LEXINGTON,  KENTUCKY 


^  For  the  Treatment  of  Mental  and 
Nervous  Diseases,  Drug  Addictions  and 
Alcoholism. 

Approved  Therapeutic  Methods. 
Hydrotherap.v,  Manual,  Vibra- 
tory and  Electric  Massage. 

Trained  "S^urses  and  Attendants. 

The  Sanitarium  is  well  equip- 
ped with  every  modern  conven- 
ience and  comfort  aud  free  from 
institutional  atmosphere.  The 
grounds  are  beautiful,  contain- 
ing  twelve  acres  of  well  shaded 
Bli'e  Gkass.  situated  on  West 
Main  St.,  just  out  of  city  limits. 
Terms  reasonable. 

For  further   information,  ad- 
dress, 

C.  A.  NEVITT,  A.M.,  M.D. 
Medical  Director 

Late  Supei-iiilendeiit  E.  K.  Asylum 


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KENTUCKY    MEDICAL    JOUBNAL. 


Mulford 
Antipneumococcic  Serums 

For  the  Specific  Treatment  of  Lobar  Pneumonia 

Lobar  pneumonia  is  caused  chiefly  by  the  pneumococcus,  of  which  there 
are  three  different  fixed  types  and  a  fourth  group,  including  possibly 
twelve  different  types. 

Types  I  and  II  arc  responsible  for  about  70  per  cent  of  cases,  with  an 
average  mortality,  without  serum  treatment,  of  from  25  to  30  per  cent. 
With  serum  treatment  the  mortality  of  Type  I  has  been  reduced  to  from 
5  to  8  per  cent. 

Type  III  is  responsible  for  from  1  0  to  1 5  per  cent  of  cases,  with  a  death 
rate  of  50  per  cent. 

Group  IV  is  responsible  for  from  15  to  20  per  cent  of  cases.  These 
usually  follow  a  milder  course,  only  10  to  15  per  cent  resulting  fatally. 

Mulford  Antipneumococcic  Serum  Polyvalent  is  highly  protective  against 
pneumonia  caused  by  Type  I,  and  contains  antibodies  against  Types 
II  and  III. 

The  serum  is  tested  and  standardized  by  tests  on  mice;  1  c.c.  must 
protect  against  500,000  fatal  doses  of  Type  I  cultures. 

The  polyvalent  serum  should  be  used  immediately  on  diagnosis  of  lobar 
pneumonia  where  type  determination  is  impossible. 

The  dose  is  from  50  to  100  mils  (c.c.)  intravenously,  repeated  about  every  six  to 
eight  hours  until  the  patient  successfully  passes  the  crisis.  Most  cases  will  reqidre  300 
mils  (c.c.)  or  more.  It  is  safe  to  administer  the  serum  intravenously  in  large  and  repeated 
doses.  When  the  serum  is  injected  intramuscularly,  the  results  are  slower  and  less 
effective. 

Mulford  Antipneumococcic  Scrums  tre  furnished  in  packages  containing  syringes 
of  20  rails  (.c.c.)  each,  and  in  ampuls  of  50  mils  (c.c.)  for  intravenous  injection. 

Mulford  Specific  Agglutinating  Pneumococcic  Scrums  for  laboratory  diagnosis  are 
furnished  for  each  of  the  three  types,  in  lo-mil  (c.c.)  ampuls  sufficient  for  about  20  tests. 

Mulford  Pneumo  -  Serobactcrin  Mixed  is  an  efficient  prophylactic  against  lobar 
pneumonia.  It  is  supplied  in  packages  of  four  graduated  syringes.  A,  B,  C.  D  strength, 
and  in  syringes  of  D  strength  separately. 


H.  K.  MULFORD  CO.,  Philadelphia,  U.  S.  A 


I 


I 


i 


0 


I 


No  need  to  question  reliability  of  our  advertisers — all  are  guaranteed.       When     answering    ads    mentic 


KEXTIfKY     MEDICAL     JOURNAL. 


I      Surgical  Instruments,  Hospital  Equipment      f 

•  and  Laboratory  Supplies 

• 

I 

I 
I 

1  Don't  Practice  False  Economy 

^  Efonoiuy  in  all  lines  is  desirahle :  but  it  is  false  economy  for  physicians  to  al 

2  low  their  equipment  to  deteriorate, 
i  The  Sales  Manager  of  one  of  the  larger  ijistrjmeiit  eomi^anies,  writing  on  this 

9       -----  -- 


I 


I 


Tliese  tinics  demand  better  equipment,  and  the  exiienditnre  of  )nore  time  and 
i)icrgij  ill  the  practice  of  medicine.  Many  physicians  have  been  called  to  the  colors. 
Their  absence  puts  additional  obligations  on  physicians  at  home ;  and  the  latter 
shcidd  equip  themselves  to  meet  the  increased  demands  on  their  time  and  medical 
knowledge. 


subject,  savs: 


I  "  I  see  in  the  future,  and  I  hope  that  my  vision  is  not  faulty,  a  great  need  § 

A  for  Hospitals — for  Hospital  Equipment.  Possibly  25,000  of  cur  best  doctors 

m.  are  going  to  War.     This  means  that  the  remaining  doctors  must  be  better 


I 

• 

i                  equipped  so  that  they  may  take  care-  of  a  larger  amount  of  patients.    It  also  ! 

J                  means  that  more  people  will  be  taken  care  of  in  Hospitals  than  in  private  J 

f                  homes,  because  one  doctor  would  be  able  to  take  care  of  more  people  collected  I 

§                  together  in  a  Hospital  thpn  he  co'ald  scattered  broadcast  over  a  communitj'. "  m 

I                                    A  Special  November  Issue  I 

I               In  order  to  give  the  manufacturers  and  distributers  of  Hospital  Equipment,  f 

!           Surgical  Instruments,  and  Laboratory  Supplies,  an  opportunity  to  present  their  H 

announcements  to  our  readers,  we  have  invited  them  to  make  use  of  this  issue.  m 

We  include  in  the  category  of  Surgical  Instruments  all  operating  utensils,  eabi-  A 

«          nets,  tables,  sji'inges,  atomizers,  hot  water  bags,  leather  cases,  bags,  etc. ;  and  ! 

J           among  Laboratory  SuiDplies,  apparatus  for  urinalysis,  blood  counts,  miei'oscopes,  " 
i           ovens,  and  all  kinds  of  porcelain  and  glassware  equipment  for  laboratories  of 
9           physicians,  Sanitariums,  et  cetera.     Hospital  equipment  comprises  himdreds  oi 
i           specially  manufactured  articles  such  as  unifo"mE,  beds,  furniture,  operating  out 
tits,  sterilizers,  foods,  etc.,  etc. 


Physicians  Requested  to  Read  the  Announcements 

A  Our  readers  eomprise  the  majority  ,of  the  med'cal  profession.    AVe  want  them 

to  Ivnow  where  they  can  obtain  the  latest  improved  facilities  for  the  practice  of 
medicine.  We  therefore  invite  the  atlention  of  our  readers  to  the  sections  of  our 
JorRNAL  Avhich  tell  them  iinir  and  nhrrs  the  "tools"  for  their  work  can  be  ob- 
tained. We  assure  them  that  all  the  goods  advertised  in  this  Journal  are  believ- 
ed to  be  exactly  as  represented.  Don't  practice  false  Economy  in  these  times. 
"Buy  from  others,  and  you  will  be  equipped  so  that  others  may  buy  from  you." 

FRANK  S.  BETZ  CO..  Ha.-nmond,  Indiana. 
THEO.  TAEEL,  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
DAAaS  AND  GEC'K,  Brooklyn,  New  York. 

W.  T.  BERRY  SURGICAL  INSTRUMENT  CO.,  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
SOITTHERN  OPTICAL  CO^MPANA",  Louisville,  Kentucts^ 
DRS.  KEITH  AND  KEITH,  Louisville,  Kentucky. 
TAYLOR  INSTRiniENT  CO.,  Rochester.  N.  Y, 
I  VICTOR  ELECTRIC  COAIP  \NY.  ''hicago.  Illinois. 


KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOUBNAL. 


Digestive 
Disturbances 


In  infants  can  usually  be 
traced  to  faulty  or  improp- 
er food.  These  disagree- 
able conditions  are  success- 
fully overcome  by  prescrib- 
ing 

-^cuJLTScnd&n. 

EAGLE 

BRAND 
CONDENSED 

MILK 

TI-iE         OFtlC^INAt- 

wliicli  is  made  from  the 
highest  quality  of  raw  ma- 
terials by  the  most  modern 
and  sanitary  methods  of 
manufacture  —  guarantee- 
ing a  finished  product — 
that  at  all  times  is  clean, 
wholesdrne  and  dependable 
for  Infant  Feeding. 


Samples,  Analysis, 
Feeding  Charts  in  anv 
language,  and  our  52- 
page  book  "Baby's 
Wei  fa  re ,"  will  be 
mailed  upon  receipt  of 
professional  card. 

Borden's 

Condensed  Milk 

Company 

"Leaders  of  Quality" 
Est.  1837 
New  York 


Extra- Grade  Oat  Flakes 


2260  Calories 
For  12  Cents 

Quaker  Oats  is  today  a  mar- 
vel of  economy.  Eggs  cost 
nine  times  as  much  per  unit 
of  nutrition.  The  average 
mixed  diet  costs  four  or  five 
times  as  much. 

Yet  Quaker  Oats  is  the 
highest  grade  of  oat  food.  It 
is  flaked  from  queen  oats 
only  —  just  the  rich,  plump 
oats.  We  get  but  ten  pounds 
from  a  bushel. 


this    selection. 


Because  of 
Quaker  Oats 
stands  su- 
preme in  fla- 
vor. Because 
of  that  flavor, 
it  stands  first 
the  world 
over. 

Even  at 
twice  this 
price,  a  better 
oat  food  is  im- 
possible. 

The  Quaker  Qafs  (pmpany 

Chicago  (1757) 


KENTUCKY     MEDICAL    JOUFXAL. 


ATTENTION ; 


• 

LABORATORY   SERVICE    FOR    PHYSICIANS  t 

I 

We  make  EVERY  USEFUL  AND  ACCEPTED  TEST  • 

punctuallvt    competentlv    for    modem    fees  S 

WASSERMANN  Test,  controlled  by  the  best  method,  the  I 

HECHT-GRADWOHL   TEST                                                                                URINE  ANALYSES  " 
AUTO-VACCINES                                                   PASTEUR  TREATIVIENT(  mail  course) 


Send  for  fee  list,  literature,  containers,  free  of  charge 


CINCINNATI  BIOLOGICAL  LABORATORIES 

19  West  Seventh  Street  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

DIRECTORS:      DR.  ALBERT  FALLER,  DR.  R.  B.  H.  GRADWOHL 


KENTUCKY  MEDICAL.    JOURNAL. 

Official  Organ  ol  the  Kentuclcv  I^edical  .A^sociaiton 

""pHE  Journal  is  a  publication  which  belongs  to  the  State  iledical  Association,  and  all 
matters  of  interest  of  the  State  Association  belong  to  The  Journal. 
The  original  contributions  are  from  tlie  best  and  most  scientific  men  in  the  State. 
Reports  jf  all  the  count}'  societies  are  published. 
The  Journal  stands  for : 

Progressive   scientific   medicine. 
The  highest  type  of  state  medicine. 

Complete  organization  of  the  medical  profession  for  the  promotion  of 
health  and  sanitary  laws  for  the  public  good. 

ADVEa*TISE3VlE3VrS 

The  Journal  carries  only  advertising  matter  which  is  reliable  and  pharmaceut- 
icals which  are  approved  of  by  the  Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry  of  the  Ameri- 
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ceived for  every  cent  they  pay,  not  for  pity  but  straight  business. 


W'.^ 


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